WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - STANFORD’s Austin Hack has been named the Pac-12 Men’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year and fellow Cardinal Ali Fauci has been tabbed the Pac-12 Women’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced today. The award was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are exemplary both academically and in their sports discipline.

 

Hack, an Old Lyme, Conn. native, is the reigning Pac-12 Men’s Rowing Athlete of the Year and a two-time All-Conference performer for the Cardinal. The senior has led the Stanford varsity eight to three first-place finishes and a No. 12 national ranking this season. Last season, Hack propelled the Cardinal to just its second win over California in 20 years in addition to a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships. A staple since in Stanford’s top boat since his sophomore year, he was named the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year in 2012 and was a finalist for the USRowing Collegiate Athlete of the Year in 2013. Last summer, Hack competed on a U.S. Senior National Team that won gold at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland and bronze at the World Rowing Championships in Chungiu, South Korea. 

 

A two-time first team Pac-12 All-Academic performer, Hack has been just as stellar in the classroom. The political science major and modern language minor has earned a 3.77 grade-point average at Stanford. In order to complete the minor he has studied Arabic and German simultaneously and was honored in 2013 with the first year German Language Award for his knowledge of the language and engagement in class activities. 

 

Fauci came to Stanford from Washington D.C. and is currently the captain for the third-ranked Cardinal, who have turned in one of its best seasons in recent years. In April, the senior led the top boat to a victory over then-No.2-ranked and undefeated California—the team’s first win over the Bears since 2009. She has also propelled Stanford’s varsity eight to wins over No. 4 USC and No. 9 Notre Dame this season. As a junior she helped the second varsity eight place second in the petite finals at the 2013 NCAA Championships. During her sophomore campaign, she was a member of a varsity eight shell that earned a silver medal at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships and finished eighth at the NCAA Championships that same year. 

 

The computer science major holds an impressive 4.05 grade-point average and has earned first team Pac-12 All-Academic honors in addition to Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Academic honors in both 2012 and 2013. Most recently, she was honored with the Terman Award, given to the top-five percent of seniors in the School of Engineering. She was also a team representative for the Cardinal Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) from 2011-13 and served as the SAAC Executive Board Student-Athlete Welfare Co-Chair as a junior last year. 

 

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.

 

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 22 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball,women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling.

 

The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards were established during the 2007-08 academic year.

 

Also nominated (Men): Sam Tobey, COLO; Chase Hooper, OSU; Joshua Klein, WASH.

 

Also nominated (Women): Anna Taylor, OSU; Carolina Paini, UCLA; Vineta Moca, USC; Madeline Johnston, WASH; Elise Jones, WSU.