ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Valley Conference has announced that University of Evansville men’s golfer Quinn Vilneff has been named to the 2013 Scholar Athlete Team.
 
It marks the ninth season in a row that the Aces have had a member of either the first team or an honorable mention.  The junior has posted a GPA of 3.941 as a Sports Management major.  His GPA is the highest of the nine honorees (seven on the first team and two honorable mentions).  He was also one of two players to be a unanimous selection to the squad as Shocker Rafael Becker was the other.
 
Vilneff had a strong run in the MVC Championship where he rallied to finish in sixth place.  The finish helped him to garner All-Conference honors along with the Elite 18 Award.  The Elite 18 Award is given to the student-athlete in each sport that balances work in the classroom and in athletics.  While the requirements vary for each sport, the award for men’s golf is given to the player who has the highest GPA amongst the top 18 finishers at the conference championship.
 
He was one of three student-athletes selected to the scholar-athlete teams who also earned all-conference honors.  Rafael Becker (Wichita State) and Devin Leland (Drake) were the other two.
 
The criteria for the MVC scholar-athlete team parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for academic Capital One Academic All-America® program.  Nominees must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale), while the student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institutions and must have participated in at least 50 percent of his team’s rounds or played at the State Farm MVC Championship.