LATHAM, N.Y. – Thanks to her combination of athletic and academic success, as well as her commitment to the community, Penn State Harrisburg's Sydney Hemler has been named the inaugural United East Women's Soccer Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Introduced for the 2022-23 season, the senior scholar-athlete award is one of the highest individual honors the conference bestows. The award recognizes one senior from each sport who represents the epitome of the student-athlete model thanks to their high performance on the field, in the classroom, and in their community.
Hemler was recently named a United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-Region Second-Team selection after earning United East Defensive Player of the Year honors for leading a back line that allowed just .74 goals per game this season. The United East All-Conference First-Team pick helped the Lions secure 13 shutouts on the year, including eight in a row to end the regular season, and was named the United East Defensive Player of the Week three times in October. On the offensive side, the Boiling Springs, Pa. native recorded nine total points thanks to four goals and an assist. For her career, she has earned three all-conference honors and racked up 24 total points on nine goals and six assists, while anchoring a defensive unit that's recorded 29 shutouts since the 2019 campaign.
"Sydney's growth from her first year with me to this past year on the field has been immense," said women's soccer head coach Brandon West. "She has always been a hard-nosed defender who worked hard but her production and how she played on the offensive side of the ball grew so much this past season and she became a huge threat going forward from the back."
As proven by her most-recent award, Hemler has been strong in the classroom throughout her time at Penn State Harrisburg. This fall, she was named to the USC Scholar All-America Second Team to go along with a USC Scholar All-Region Second Team honor. She, along with teammate Sarah Toche-Manley, recently became one of the first players in program history to earn College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District accolades. She also earned United East Scholar-Athlete recognition three times and is on pace to earn her fourth conference academic honor following the conclusion of the 2022-23 academic year. The Biology major currently carries an impressive 3.81 cumulative GPA.
In the community, Hemler lends a helping hand to her local church, working with the Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, Pa. There, she volunteers by helping put on an annual Christmas celebration and working in the church's nursery. She also serves as a tutor on the Penn State Harrisburg campus.
"Sydney's maturity and love for her teammates is what stands out to me the most," added West. "She cares about others more than herself and she would never ask something of someone that she wasn't willing to do herself. She is someone who pursues excellence in all areas of life. She loves and serves others well and has a growth mindset. I am so thrilled she is coming back for her fifth year."
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.