CLEVELAND – Although
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) is now a former member of the Chaminade University men's basketball team, he continues to add on to his lengthy list of accolades.
Cartaino, whose athletic eligibility expired this past spring, was named Thursday to the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) West Region Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The 6-foot-6 guard was selected over other male scholar-athlete winners from the NCAA Division II West Region which includes the Pacific West Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).
The D2 CCA award adds to Cartaino's lengthy list of academic achievements as a Silversword. Leaving Chaminade with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.795 in both Accounting and his MBA, Cartaino is a two-time PacWest Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the first student-athlete in conference history to earn consecutive PacWest Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. He was also recognized as a CoSIDA Academic All-American (twice), Academic All-PacWest selection (four), Division 2 Athletics Directors (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement (twice) and the NABC Honors Court.
On the court, Cartaino was the PacWest's scoring champion at 20.8 point per game and was a two-time All-PacWest First Team selection while earning All-West Region honors by the NABC and D2 CCA. He helped guide the 'Swords to their fourth consecutive PacWest Tournament berth this past season.
Azusa Pacific's Sara Wagenveld (volleyball, track & field) was the West Region Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, giving the PacWest a sweep of the D2 CCA region's scholar-athlete honors.
Alex Goddi (football) of Minnesota State was the D2 CCA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year while Alexy Mollenhauer (women's basketball) of Anderson University was the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
