March Scholar-Athletes Celebrated by Center for Enhanced Performance

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army West Point Athletics Association's Academic Support team has selected its scholar-athletes for the month of March, honoring Deacon Donaldson of men's lacrosse, Sophia Sandy of women's track & field and men's track and field's Ryan Hogan.

The honorees join 16 other scholar-athletes that have received the nod throughout the 2021-22 academic year, including recipients from September (Jacob Suppiah - MSOC and David Dickerson - SFB), October (Nicole Wantlin - WRUGBY, Georgia Jones - WXC and Marshall Beatty - MXC), November (Connor Bishop - FB, Isabella Sullivan - VB), December (Kevin Lin – MSD, Sammie Edwards – WSD, Jake Felker – HKY), January (Anusha Pakkam - RIFLE, Aaron Duhart - MBB, Kate Murray - WBB) and February (Michael Rooney - MTEN, Justine Dondonay - WTEN, Ben Pasiuk - WRES).

Deacon Donaldson - Junior - Men's Lacrosse - Summit, N.J.
Cadet Donaldson, a defenseman on the Army West Point men's lacrosse team, has emerged as a leader and well-rounded exemplar both on and off the field. Donaldson has played nearly every minute of Army's eight-game season thus far, with a team-high eight caused turnovers, 15 ground balls, and a highlight-reel goal against Syracuse.

The New Jersey native's statistics off the field equally impress. He is an economics major with a nuclear engineering sequence, earning a 3.83 cumulative academic performance score, to include six courses where he earned a grade of A+.

As a leader, Donaldson garners a 3.4 cumulative military performance score and he recently earned accolades for excelling as a CBT squad leader and first-semester squad leader.

Donaldson has deservedly earned the respect of his subordinates, peers, and leadership. While others respect him for fully leveraging his immense talents, his intangible traits may represent his most admirable qualities. He balances an intense and high-performing work ethic with selflessness, constant positivity, and genuine respect for everyone that he encounters. Donaldson represents the absolute best of what our scholar-athletes offer to the United States Military Academy and the Army.

Joe Alberici, Men's Head Lacrosse Coach: "I am very proud of Deacon's accomplishments. In the classroom, he is a diligent worker and an intellectually curious individual. On the field, he has applied those same characteristics to become an outstanding defender in our program."

Sophia Sandy - Sophomore - Women's Track & Field - Aurora, Ill.
Cadet Sandy is a life science major that wears both the gold star (3.67+ GPA for two-consecutive semesters) and the gold wreath (top 20% of her graduating class) on her uniform. With an academic GPA of 4.143, she ranked 184th in her graduating class and checked in as high as 22nd in the fall of 2022.

Sandy is a strong performer across the board, as she also holds a cumulative quality point average of 4.029. She has been recognized by the Department of History for high performances, particularly regarding her research papers, and tutors her classmates extensively in a variety of subjects. Sandy is currently in her second semester of research in the Chemistry and Life Science Department, where she is conducting a chemical analysis and characterization of a novel eucalyptus kino, to support future publication of dissertation on eucalyptus kinos.

Athletically, Sandy is also no stranger to success having had an exciting career with the Black Knights thus far. A 2020-21 Patriot League Cross Country All-First Team honoree, she won the 10,000-meter event at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship and placed fourth in the same event at the Patriot League Championship. Recently, she competed her way to a sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meter race at the 2022 Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships. Sandy was also a top-three finisher during the 2020 Cross Country Star Meet against Navy and has the third-fastest indoor time at West Point in the 5,000-meter race.

Mike Smith, Director of Track & Field/Cross Country: "Sophia's impact on our track and field team has been marked by her consistency. She always meets expectations. Her performance in the classroom and on the track and as a young leader is always representative of her best effort. She has managed the transition from high school training to college training quite well and as a result has had a remarkable early career development curve and is a dependable scorer at the Patriot League level. She is a very positive person and brings a stabilizing energy to practice every day. She makes our team better through her performance but even more so through her presence."

Ryan Hogan - Senior - Men's Track & Field - Denver, Colo.
Cadet Hogan, a team captain for the men's track & field program, is a computer science major with an academic GPA of 3.977. The Colorado native owns a CQPA of 3.932, with reflects excellence in all physical and military pillars, as well.

Hogan has been named to the Dean's List every semester that he has been at West Point and recently earned the Master of the Sword Award from the Department of Physical Education. Like his teammate Sophia Sandy, he also wears a gold star on his uniform. Hogan's academic achievements at USMA have been additionally highlighted by him becoming air assault qualified.

On the track, Hogan's dedication and competitiveness have helped him to become one of the team's top performers. At the Patriot League Championships, he is a four-time top-five finisher and won the Men's 200 at this year's indoor Army-Navy Star Meet.

Mike Smith, Director of Track & Field/Cross Country: "Ryan is one of our most consistent performers on the track and he is a quietly confident leader that sets a standard for hard work and commitment to the pursuit of excellence. He is a four-time Patriot League scorer on the track including a Patriot League championship as a member of the 4x100m relay in 2021. He is a three time Army Navy champion in the 200 (twice) and the 4x100m relay. He is on the Army All-time Top 10 list five times including #9 100 meters, #5 and #6 in the 4x100m relay, #4 in the indoor 200m and tied for #3 all time in the outdoor 200m. Ryan was selected as a team captain in part because of his status as an alpha performer on the track but also because of his demonstrated excellence in the other pillars at the Academy."

Army West Point Athletics

March Scholar-Athletes Celebrated by Center for Enhanced Performance

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Marshall Beatty

Deacon Donaldson

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Sophia Sandy

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