NFHCA Release
 
GILBERT, Ariz. – The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA), along with title sponsor Zag Field Hockey, published its third release in the annual presentation of academic achievement on Wednesday with the announcement of the Scholars of Distinction program. Ithaca garnered an honoree on the list for an eighth consecutive year, extending the streak which dates back to the founding of the Scholars of Distinction honor in 2012.
 
Lenker is no stranger to earning this particular academic honor. Wednesday's announcement marks the third time Lenker has been honored by the NFHCA as a Scholar of Distinction during her career. Lenker is one of seven Bombers to be tabbed with this prestigious honor in the eight-year history of the award. With Wednesday's announcement, she became just the third IC player to earn the honor at least three times in her respective career, joining other three-time honoree Meg Dowd '19 and four-time honoree Laurel Shnider '16.
 
This year, 321 student-athletes have been recognized as Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA Division III Scholars of Distinction. It was a record number for the award, smashing last year's previous record total by 53 student-athletes. The Division III Scholars of Distinction program recognizes student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.9 or higher through the first semester of the 2019-20 academic year.
Lenker will certainly go down as one of the finest keepers to ever wear the IC jersey after another strong campaign this past fall that capped her Ithaca career. She ranks within the program's Top-5 in career victories (31), while she also ranks among the program's Top-10 in career save percentage, goals-against average, and total saves.
 
Lenker was tabbed Defensive Performer of the Year by the Liberty League in addition to being named an All-Liberty League First Team honoree. She went on to earn NFHCA All-Region honors, becoming the first IC player since her goalkeeping predecessor, Katie Lass '17, as well as forward Colleen Keegan-Twombly '17 to earn multiple All-Region accolades during a respective career. The aforementioned duo were both All-Region honorees during their final year of competition in 2016.
 
The following is the full list of Ithaca's Scholar of Distinction honorees.
 
2012 – 3 (Sarah Pfeifle, Laurel Shnider, Aliza Kamman)
2013 – 1 (Laurel Shnider)
2014 – 1 (Laurel Shnider)
2015 – 2 (Janie Kleinberg, Laurel Shnider)
2016 – 2 (Janie Kleinberg, Meg Dowd)
2017 – 3 (Meg Dowd, Savanna Lenker, Arleigh Rodgers)
2018 – 3 (Meg Dowd, Savanna Lenker, Arleigh Rodgers)
2019 – 1 (Savanna Lenker)
 
Lenker is set to graduate with a degree in Environmental Studies this spring.