Feb. 12, 2004

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Former St. John's University men's soccer player Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.) has been named the 2003-04 BIG EAST/Aeropostale Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was announced today by the league office. He will receive a $4,000 stipend which will be applied to graduate studies. The winner of the award is determined by the league's Academic Awards Committee.

Wingert was chosen for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award from a pool of 15 candidates which may encompass athletes from any of the nine BIG EAST men's sports. He is the third St. John's student-athlete to win the Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, joining track and field's Christian Fogarazzo (1996-97) and baseball's David Honor (1990-91).

The Red Storm's three-year captain capped off a brilliant career when he was named the 36th winner of the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy on January 9, honoring the top player in Division I soccer. In winning the award, the defender became the first player in Division I men's soccer history to win the Hermann Trophy and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar-Athlete Award in the same season.

The BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the third such award he has earned this year, as he was named the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American of the Year in December, and followed that up with the NSCAA Scholar-Athlete Award later in the month.

Wingert, who graduated in December 2003, completing his bachelor's degree in communication arts, will play tonight with the United States Under-23 National Team in Mexico against the Honduras (5:30 p.m. CT) in a third place match at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The Red Storm finished the 2003 season with a 17-6-3 record and were ranked No. 2 in the country after losing, 2-1, to Indiana in the NCAA National Championship game. It was the second time in three years the team advanced to the NCAA College Cup. St. John's was the top-seeded team in the league after winning its 11th BIG EAST Championship (combined regular season and tournament) in the last 12 years. Wingert, the BIG EAST Conference's Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season, has been a dominant force in the BIG EAST and in college soccer since his arrival on campus in 2000.

Off the field, he was equally as successful. Wingert, who graduated with a 3.79 grade-point average, was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District I team before earning the national award. A member of St. John's prestigious President's Society, Wingert was a CoSIDA Academic All-American first team selection in 2002, and earned third team honors in 2001.

He led the Red Storm to the No. 1 national ranking in the country last year as the team went 13-3-5, reached the BIG EAST semifinals and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh-straight year. Wingert was named the BIG EAST's Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-American honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. In 2001, when St. John's won the BIG EAST Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Final Four with a 17-3-3 record, Wingert was a first-team All-BIG EAST selection. As a freshman, he helped the team to the NCAA Tournament and was a BIG EAST All-Rookie selection.

The BIG EAST also announced the 2003-04 BIG EAST/Aeropostale Female Scholar-Athlete Award winners, who will each receive $2,000 toward graduate studies. St. John's senior women's swimming Laura Nuudi (Tallin, Estonia) was the University's representative.