MANSFIELD, Mass. – The Northeast-10 Conference released the Spring 2017 NE10 Academic All-Conference Teams on Thursday, revealing that five Pace University student-athletes have been named to their respective Academic All-Conference Teams. Senior Brandon Donnellan (Chester, NY/Warwick Valley) of the men's lacrosse team was not only named to the Men's Lacrosse Academic All-Conference Team, but was selected as the NE10 Sport Excellence Award winner in his sport. In addition, junior men's lacrosse teammate Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton), junior women's lacrosse standout Najmah James (Danbury, CT/Danbury), and seniors John Kukura (New City, NY/Clarkstown South) and Garrett De Lotto (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) of the baseball team were all named to the Academic All-Conference Teams in their respective sports.

Donnellan was one of just 17 to be named a 2017 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA)/Nike Division II Scholar All-American. He was also named to the 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® At-Large Third Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District™ First Team. This is Donnellan's third time being named to the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference, and he is also a two-time Division II Athletic Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Award winner. He is also a seven-time NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll member. Donnellan was picked as the Pace Athletics Merit Award Winner for the 2015-16 campaign, and earned the prestigious Pace Athletics Darrell Halloran Memorial Award in 2017.
 
Donnellan impressed on the field for all four of his years with the Pace men's lacrosse team, illustrated by his four Northeast-10 All-Conference selections, including his second straight First-Team selection this year. He was also selected to the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Star First Team. This season, Donnellan led the NE10 with 30 caused turnovers, and his 52 ground balls were tied for fourth in the conference among non-faceoff specialists. He also scored one goal and provided an assist. Donnellan captained the Setters to a No. 5 ranking in the final national poll, and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament. He was also picked as the 2017 Pace Athletics Co-Male Athlete of the Year. Donnellan was recently selected to the 2017 USILA/Nike Division I/II North All-Star Team, and played in the North-South All-Star game at Providence College. He was also a finalist for the 2017 NE10 Man of the Year Award.

Kreitler makes his second appearance on the NE10 Academic All-Conference Team and has earned a spot on the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for six straight semesters. The junior attack also played a key role in the men's lacrosse team's historic season, putting together his best offensive numbers to date with 38 goals and an assist for 39 points, scoring on more than half of his shots (.535). Kreitler picked up 13 ground balls, tallied three man-up scores, and netted what would be the decisive goal in an 11-8 win at Southern New Hampshire on April 8. He will enter his senior season with 87 career points on 76 goals and 11 assists.

James helped lead the Setters to a program-best 11-6 record in 2017 as they qualified for the NE10 Conference Championship for the second year in a row. Pace was ranked in the Top 20 in the nation for every week of the season, reaching as high as No. 11 on the IWLCA Division II Coaches Poll before finishing No. 18. After two seasons as an NE10 All-Conference Second-Team honoree, James made the jump to the NE10 All-Conference First Team in 2017. The ever-improving lock-down defender who consistently drew the opposition's best offensive player caused 19 turnovers this season and picked up 29 ground balls, both good for second on the team. James also grabbed 20 draw controls and totaled three points on two assists and a goal. In addition, she earned her second straight ECAC All-Star Second-Team distinction this year and is a standout in the classroom with six consecutive semesters on the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Kukura enjoyed a highly decorated season both on the field and for his efforts in the classroom.  One of the top outfielders in the conference, he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Division II East All-Region Second Team for a second straight year. Kukura was a three-time Northeast-10 All-Conference Team selection, earning two straight spots on the First Team. He was tabbed to the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) All-East Region First Team, and was selected as a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-East Region Honorable Mention. Kukura was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-East Region First Team before the start of the season. He finished with a batting average of .337, which placed him 10th in the NE10. His 15 doubles were third-most in the league, as were his 44 runs scored and his .451 on-base percentage. Kukura also ranked fifth in the conference with a .535 slugging percentage and set Pace's career triples record by hitting the 11th of his four-year tenure. He was named NCBWA East Region Hitter of the Week, NE10 Player of the Week and ECAC Player of the Week this season. Kukura was also selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District™ First Team for the second straight year.

De Lotto was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District™ First Team honoree. He earned a spot on the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll all four semesters at Pace after transferring in prior to the Fall 2015 semester. De Lotto earned ECAC Player of the Week kudos this season, and was named to the NE10 Weekly Honor Roll three times. Early in the season he put together an impressive 15-game hitting streak before finishing fourth on the team with 46 hits. De Lotto also racked up seven doubles, three triples, two home runs and finished third on the team with 29 runs batted in while making only two errors in 419 chances for a .995 fielding percentage. He and Kukura helped lead the Setters to a 29-19 record and a spot in NE10 Championship Weekend.

To be eligible for selection to the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference teams, a student-athlete must have met or exceeded the following minimum requirements: 1) participated in at least half of the team's competitions and been either a starter or significant contributor; 2) achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale); and 3) completed at least one academic year at his/her current institution.

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