Moon Township, Pa. - Senior defensive lineman Ray Gensler (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks) of the Robert Morris University football team continued to pull in 2006 postseason honors Thursday when he was named the 2006 Northeast Conference Fall Scholar-Athlete for football. Gensler takes home the award for carrying a 3.91 grade point average as a manufacturing engineering major, and it marks his third academic postseason honor in 2006. He was also named an Academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine and CoSIDA while also earning District II honors from the same organization. On top of those awards Gensler is one of eight finalists for an FCS Athletic Directors Association postgraduate scholarship.
In 2006 Gensler led the Northeast Conference in sacks (11), which also tied the Robert Morris single-season record. His 11 sacks also pushed his career total to 19, establishing a new Colonial career record. Gensler finished fourth for RMU in tackles with 65, including an NEC-best 23 for a loss that totaled 106 yards. For his efforts on the field Gensler was named to the All-NEC First Team as well as garnering Mid-Major All-America honors and I-AA/FCS Third Team Defensive All-America accolades, both from The Sports Network.
Gensler was one of 44 Colonials to be named to the 2006 NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. The RMU field hockey team placed the most members of its squad from Robert Morris on the honor roll with a total of 13 student-athletes. Following the field hockey team was the football team, which placed eight members on the honor roll. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have earned a minimum of 60 semester hours, maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 and participated with distinction as a member of a varsity team.
A total of nine Colonials to make the 2006 NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll have grade point averages of 3.90 or better. Joining Gensler is senior Lisa Jaszka (Lancaster, N.Y. / Lancaster) of the RMU volleyball team, who carries a perfect 4.00 GPA as an elementary education major. Jaska is joined by senior Janette Schneider (Leetsdale, Pa. / Quaker Valley), junior Jessica Camaioni (Williamstown, N.J. / Williamstown) and sophomore Alaina Gibson (Muncie, Indiana / Muncie Borris) from the volleyball squad with GPA's better than 3.90. Schneider owns a 3.91 grade point average as a communications major, while Camaioni, also a communications major, carries a 3.98 GPA. Gibson, a human resource management major, owns a 3.94 grade point average.
For the Robert Morris field hockey team, sophomore Mary Kate Egan (Lynch, Md. / Kent County) owns a 3.96 GPA as a nursing major, while junior Marissa Zizzi (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle) is a marketing major that carries a 3.93 grade point average. On the Colonial women's soccer squad, junior Taryn Reichard (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) owns a 3.98 GPA as an environmental science major, while senior Nicole Carter (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) competes in cross country while carrying a 3.94 GPA as a social science major.
