BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (May 20) - Wheeling University women's track & field athlete
Danielle Stewart (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) and baseball pitcher
Josh Bell (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area) were announced as recipients of Spring Senior Career Achievement Awards.
In order to pay tribute to the career achievements of senior student-athletes in spring sports who had their seasons and/or careers abruptly ended by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountain East Conference instituted the Spring Senior Career Achievement Award this year.
The award serves to acknowledge the outstanding athletic careers of student-athletes in spring sports who were not able to be recognized in their sport in the Spring of 2020, while paying tribute to their academic success and contributions to their teams and institution during their careers.
Stewart qualifier in the pole vault for the 2020 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships in March, but was unable to compete when the event was cancelled along with all winter and spring NCAA Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her vault of 3.93 meters (12 feet, 10.75 inches) at the Youngstown State Invitational this season qualified her for nationals and also earned her USTFCCCA All-Region honors. Stewart is a two-time Mountain East Conference Outdoor Champion in Pole Vault, took second place in 2019 and won the inaugural MEC Indoor Championship in the Pole Vault this season. A nursing major, Stewart was a member of the 2020 MEC Academic All-Conference Team.
"Danielle has been the example of what it takes to be an athlete of her caliber and the embodiment of what it means to be a Cardinal," said Wheeling University Head Track & Field Coach Patrick Stanton. "The example she has set will live on well past when she's done competing. We will miss her when she leaves, but I'm confident that she will do big things after graduation and continue to make us proud as an alum."
Bell was off to a phenomenal start on the mound to his senior season before it was cut short. He was 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA and a team-high 22 strikeouts over just 24.0 innings pitched. In what would be the final start of his career, Bell struck out a career-high 10 and yielded zero earned runs in a complete-game win at Paine College on March 8 to help the team earn the win. As a junior, Bell had a team-best 4.32 ERA and a staff-best .286 opponents batting average, but an egregious lack of run support resulted in a 1-7 pitching record. In one outing in 2019, Bell tossed a complete-game, struck out seven and yielded only one unearned run in a 1-0 loss to UVa.-Wise. Bell, who is also a nursing major, was also a member of the 2020 MEC Academic All-Conference team.
"Josh possesses all of the qualities and skills that you look for in a student-athlete," said Head Baseball Coach Ryan Lewicki. "Those qualities and skills are also what will help him with the next phase of his life and hopefully allow him to be an exceptional student in his future studies at Bowling Green graduate school and in the medical field."
Each institution selected one male and one female from its spring sports roster to be recognized by the conference.
