Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/15/11
From Press Releases
Villanova senior midfielder Brian Karalunas has been named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Lacrosse Performer of the Year for the second straight year.
Karalunas and Chris Ficke are two of 12 student-athletes selected to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Lacrosse Team. The team is voted on by the sports information offices of the 28 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
Karalunas and Ficke are joined on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Lacrosse team by Robert Church of Drexel, Jeff Crosby, Brian Hill (Ridley) and John McSorley (Ridley) from Cabrini, Haverford’s Travis Gregory, Dillon Hamill and Max Hjelm (Conestoga), Max Hubbard of Swarthmore, Dan Klodarska (Penncrest) from Immaculata and Gwynedd-Mercy’s Zach Richter (Boyertown).
In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area, an athlete must be in his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better.
Karalunas finishes his career as the most decorated men’s lacrosse student-athlete in program history. He is Villanova’s first three-time USILA All-American and garnered back-to-back BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 and 2011. On the field, the long-stick midfielder finished his senior season with 74 ground balls and 70 caused turnovers, leading the NCAA averaging 4.38 takeaways per game. He is Villanova and the NCAA’s career leader with 153 caused turnovers and ranks ninth all-time at VU with 213 ground balls.
Off the field, Karalunas was honored with the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse. The Dewitt, N.Y., native has compiled a 3.94 cumulative grade point average as an honors and philosophy major. The three-time Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area selection and two-time Performer of the Year, was also named to the USILA Scholar All-America Team.
For his career, Ficke played in 57 games while making 53 starts in the Villanova backfield, collecting 120 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers. During his senior season, the close defenseman tallied 43 ground balls and 15 takeaways and was named the 2011 Jim Jones Award Winner, given annually to the Villanova lacrosse player who best exemplifies loyalty, courage and dedication not only in athletic competition, but everyday life.
Ficke graduates Villanova with a 3.53 cumulative GPA with a degree in Accountancy from the Villanova School of Business. He is currently enrolled in Villanova’s Accountancy master’s degree program.
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