Seniors Austin Hack of the men’s rowing team and Ali Fauci of the women’s rowing team became Stanford’s fifth and sixth athletes this academic year to earn Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, the conference announced on Sunday.
Hack, majoring in political science and minoring in modern language with a 3.766 GPA, has been renowned for his leadership and contributions to his team throughout his career at Stanford, as he was named the Pac-12 Men’s Rowing Athlete of the Year in 2013 and his sport’s conference Newcomer of the Year in 2012. He earned All-Pac-12 honors in both seasons.
“It is definitely a huge honor,” Hack said. “I have been recognized for my rowing accomplishments, but it feels good to be recognized academically. I know there are a lot of smart guys on our team and other teams as well so it is an honor to receive this award.”
Hack has also earned two Pac-12 All-Academic selections prior to this year. He is the third Stanford men’s rower to be granted the sport’s Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
“He is the top collegiate rower in America this year,” said Stanford head coach Craig Amerkhanian. “He came to us as a brilliant and focused scholar. He would have gotten into Stanford with or without rowing. He is special and is what our program has always been about.”
Fauci also became the third Stanford student-athlete to be awarded Pac-12 Women’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The computer science major ended the winter quarter with a 4.053 GPA and will work at Twitter next year. She is also a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree and two-time recipient of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Scholar-Athlete Award.
“It is an incredible honor just to be a student-athlete at Stanford,” Fauci said. “It is exciting to be recognized by the Pac-12, but we have an incredible team of scholar-athletes who all deserve the honor as much as I do.”
During her freshman year, Fauci walked on to the women’s rowing team and worked her way up to becoming a member of the 1V8 boat that took home first in the Pac-12 Championships last weekend.
“She got into Stanford on her own. She had experience but she is only 5-foot-8. She went from not rowing fast to being very fast and she did that on her own,” said head coach Yasmin Farooq. “Rowing at this level is a major time commitment. She is a role model for every person on the team, the way she works hard at practice and in the classroom. She does it all right and we are really going to miss her.”
The other Cardinal athletes who have been named Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2013-2014 season are seniors Chiney Ogwumike of women’s basketball, Dwight Powell of men’s basketball, Ben Rhyne of football and Tyler Stutzman of men’s cross country.
Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.