FORT MYERS, Fla. –  The Suncoast Credit Union FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athletes of the Month for February 2023 have been announced, with sophomore women's golfer Anna Claire Bridge (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville HS/FAU) and senior baseball player Alejandro Figueredo (Sucre, Venezuela/West Oaks HS/Seminole State) earning the honor.
 
One male and female Eagle are chosen each month as the FGCU Athletics scholar-athlete throughout the academic year. Factors in the selection for the honor include a combination of significant athletic and overall academic success. Women's tennis player Emma Bardet and men's basketball player Isaiah Thompson earned the January 2023.
 
The award is the first for Bridge and the second for Figueredo. It is the seventh Scholar-Athlete of the Month award for FGCU women's golf, and the 29th for baseball.
 
A 2022-23 transfer from FAU, Bridge won the Jupiter Invitational in October 2022, firing a final-round 68 that was her career-low score en route to the one-stroke victory. Her 1-over 211 tied the seventh-lowest 54-hole total in program history, and Bridge became the first Eagle to win an individual tournament title since October 2021, when Haley Yerxa won the 44th Annual Pat Bradley Invitational.
 
Bridge has also recorded three straight top-20 individual performances in the spring 2023 campaign, including a tie for 12^th in The Atlantic Invitational on Feb. 20-21. She was also named ASUN Women's Golfer of the Week on Oct. 6, 2022. Her 74.67 stroke average is second on the team, and she has carded five par-or-better rounds this season.
 
A health administration major, Bridge carries a 4.0 cumulative GPA – and recorded a 4.0 term GPA in the fall of 2022.
 
"Anna Claire is well deserving of this award," said FGCU head women's golf coach Shannon Sykora. "She works hard on and off the course, and she's a great teammate. We are so proud of her."
 
Figueredo leads the 19^th-ranked FGCU baseball team with a .411 batting average and a .505 on-base percentage, and is tied for the team lead with eight home runs. He has a team-best 37 hits, including six doubles, and has driven in 28 runs in 22 games this season for a .744 slugging percentage.
 
A Collegiate Baseball News Third-Team All-American and All-ASUN First-team choice as a junior and ASUN Preseason Player of the Year heading into 2023, Figueredo entered this weekend's play with a .354 career batting average with 34 doubles, 26 home runs and 117 RBIs. His career slugging percentage is .592, and his career on-base percentage is .443.

An integrated studies major, Figueredo carries a 3.62 cumulative GPA.
 
"Figgy is the ideal student-athlete," said FGCU head baseball coach Dave Tollett. "The way he goes about his business on a daily basis is so impressive."
 
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To achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport -- including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 19 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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