James, Nocella Receive MAC Medal of Excellence Award

Bowling Green State University standouts Ryan James and Alyssa Nocella were among 24 Mid-American Conference student-athletes who received the Medal of Excellence Award Wednesday evening (June 1). The MAC Medal of Excellence Award winners were announced at the conference's Honors Dinner Ceremony at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel as part of the MAC Spring Meetings.

The Medal of Excellence is an award presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each of the 12 Conference member institutions.

"The Medal of Excellence Award is a reinforcement of the core values that we as a conference and each of our member institutions all possess with excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and service," said MAC Commissioner, Jon A. Steinbrecher. "We congratulate all of our Medal of Excellence Award winners."

To be honored with the Medal of Excellence Award, student-athletes had to participate on the varsity level in a conference sponsored sport and shown evidence of academic success with a minimum 3.50 accumulative grade-point average, exhibited athletics excellence, leadership and service. Selection of the recipients was made by each MAC institution.

Both James, a four-year starter on the men's soccer team, and Nocella, a gymnastics standout at BGSU, received the Falcon Medal of Honor – the highest honor given to a BGSU student-athlete – at The Ziggys in late April, and Nocella was also named BGSU's Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year at that awards ceremony.

James, a native of Mississauga, Ontario (Loyola Catholic Secondary), started all 19 matches in 2015, his senior season, and played in all 79 of BG's matches in his four-year career, starting 69. He had 13 points on four goals and five assists in 2015. James tied for the team assists lead, and was fourth on the Falcons in both goals and points. He scored BG's first and last goals of the year, with the opening goal in the Falcons' season-opening win over SIUE and the match-winning goal at Appalachian State. James had a four-point match against Evansville, figuring in the scoring of all three BGSU goals, and had two assists vs. Cleveland State. James, who was named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team, played in 1719 of a possible 1756 minutes in 2015, and was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. James scored 33 career points on nine goals and 15 assists. He was drafted by Sporting KC in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft, and is currently playing with the Rochester Rhinos of United Soccer Leagues.

Nocella, a native of Gilbertsville, Pa. (Boyertown Area H.S.), was named to the All-MAC First Team, becoming only the second gymnast in school history to earn that honor in three-straight seasons. A three-time NCAA regional qualifier in the all-around, she also was named the MAC's Senior Gymnast of the Year, becoming just the third student-athlete in school history to win that award. And, she was just the second Falcon gymnast in school history to be named to the Academic All-MAC Team on three occasions. Nocella set a new personal best this season with a score of 39.425, a mark that ranks third best in program history. She won two MAC Gymnast of the Week awards and one MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week honor in 2016. She achieved eight all-around scores of 39 or higher this season, and scored 9.900 in an event five times including three times on floor and twice on bars. Nocella helped the Falcons score 195.625 at the MAC Championships, the highest mark at a conference championship in school history. BGSU qualified for the NCAA Regionals as a team for the first time in 25 years.

2016 MAC Medal of Excellence Award Winners
Akron: Andrew Souders (men's soccer); Hannah Raspopovich (women's swimming & diving)
Ball State: Alex Call (baseball); Shelby Merder (women's basketball)
Bowling Green: Ryan James (men's soccer); Alyssa Nocella (gymnastics)
Buffalo: Tyler Grassman (football); Mackenzie Loesing (women's basketball)
Central Michigan: Ryan Heeke (baseball); Breanne Lesnar (women's cross country/track & field)
Eastern Michigan: Andrew Henry (men's swimming & diving); Julia Lombardi (women's soccer)
Kent State: Jordan Italiano (football); Roseanne Erickson (women's track & field)
Miami: Jacob Prodoehl (men's swimming & diving); Kathie Wollney (women's track & field)
Northern Illinois: Drew Hare (football); Emily Naegele (softball)
Ohio: Blake Scipio (football); Abby Gilleland (volleyball)
Toledo: John Martillota (baseball); Samantha Richart (women's swimming & diving)
Western Michigan: Connor Furgason (men's soccer); Kayla Weber (gymnastics)

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