Inside Athletics | 6/17/2026 5:52:00 PM
Bridgewater, NJ — In its 20th year, the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which is sponsored by the league's Faculty Athletic Representatives, goes to the male and female student-athletes who have exhausted athletic eligibility, graduated and compiled the highest GPA in the conference at the conclusion of the academic year.
Two Saint Francis student-athletes not only made the list, they did so with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Congratulations to
Anna Quackenbush (cross country/track and field) and
Jeff Hoenstine (football) as they finish their careers with impressive resumes.
Quackensbush becomes just the third SFU track & field and cross country student-athlete to earn the honor in the last twenty years. She joins Ian Butcher ('08) and Shannon Cody ('21).
She graduated from our Physician Assistant program in just three years, earning the Academic Excellence Award for her class in the process.
This distance ace filled those three years with many miles and highlights. In her three cross country seasons at Saint Francis, she earned All-NEC honors every year. She finished 7th as a freshman, 12th as a sophomore, and 4th as a junior. She became just the tenth SFU woman to earn All-NEC honors at least three times. She helped lead the team to three consecutive top-three finishes. In her final season, her 70th place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championship matched the highest finish by an SFU woman in twelve years.
On the track, she scored in all six NEC championships during her time at SFU, earning 47 career points, and helping lead the team to a runner-up finish at this year's Outdoor NEC Championship:
2024 Indoor
5,000m - 5th in 18:10.02
2024 Outdoor
10,000m - 4th in 38:21.71
2025 Indoor
3,000m - 8th in 10:13.29
5,000m - 3rd in 17:32.00
2025 Outdoor
5,000m - 6th in 18:04.20
10,000m - 3rd in 37:47.19
2026 Indoor
3,000m - 5th in 10:05.00
5,000m - 4th in 17:42.60
2027 Outdoor
5,000m - 4th in 17:37.83
10,000m - 2nd in 36:23.14
She graduates ranked among SFU's Top-Ten All-Time in six events, including one SFU record:
- Indoor 3000m - 4th all-time at 10:05.00
- Indoor 5000m - 3rd all-time at 17:31.38
- Outdoor 1500m - 5th all-time at 4:37.90
- Outdoor 3000m - 4th all-time at 10:08.60
- Outdoor 5000m - 5th all-time at 17:25.72
- Outdoor 10,000m - SFU SCHOOL RECORD 35:47.75
Jeff Hoenstine, a quarterback, did not skip a beat in the classroom as he maintained a perfect 4.00 GPA throughout his entire academic career as a Criminal Justice major. Making five appearances for Saint Francis on the gridiron this past season, the Keystone State product threw for a pair of touchdowns against Duquesne and Wagner. Hoenstine will be forever remembered to leading Saint Francis to its first-ever FBS win over Kent State in 2024. He threw for 195 yards including a 64-yard touchdown pass in the 23-17 win.
Read more on this year's NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winners.
