IRVING, Texas – Commissioner Mike Aresco has announced that South Florida track and field standout Johann Jeremiah and East Carolina lacrosse player Sophia LoCicero have been chosen as the winners of the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Awards by the American Athletic Conference faculty athletics representatives. 
 
The awards are given to one male and one female student-athlete from an American Athletic Conference-sponsored sport who have been admitted to a degree-granting or professional program for the following year and who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, athletic performance and depth of commitment to service within the institution or the community. 
 
Jeremiah and LoCicero will each receive a $5,000 scholarship, which may be applied to postgraduate study. 
 
Jeremiah becomes the first South Florida student-athlete to earn a Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award. A native of St. George’s, Grenada, Jeremiah was chosen as the Bulls’ Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2022-23 academic year after he set program records in both the indoor (17.40 meters) and outdoor (17.02 meters) shot put.
 
Jeremiah graduated from South Florida with a 3.73 grade-point average as a biomedical health sciences major. He had five semesters in which he attained a 4.00 GPA and is a two-time American Athletic Conference All-Academic selection. Jeremiah plans to pursue a graduate degree in health care administration.
 
LoCicero is the fourth East Carolina student-athlete to earn a Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award, joining former Pirate swimmers Julien Dodu (2015-16) and Vendela Norman (2017-18) and tennis player Austin Allen (2018-19). She was a key player on an East Carolina lacrosse team that went 10-8 overall and qualified for the American Athletic Conference tournament for the second straight season. LoCicero played in all 18 games and scored 27 goals with two assists, while she finished her career with 51 goals and three assists.
 
LoCicero, who graduated with magna cum laude distinction and earned a 3.84 grade-point average as a communication sciences and disorders major, completed her first year as a graduate student in East Carolina’s speech language pathology program. She has been named to The American’s All-Academic Team five times and was named to the IWLCA Academic Honors Squad in all five years of her career. 


Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award
The Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award is presented annually to two student-athletes (one male, one female) who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, outstanding athletic performance and depth of commitment in service within the institution and/or in the community.
 

2013-14	Zach Willis, Baseball, Memphis
	Jackie Wattles, Volleyball, UConn
2014-15	Keenan Joyner, Track and Field, Memphis
	Julie Kernen, Softball, Tulsa
2015-16	Julien Dodu, Swimming & Diving, East Carolina
	Hannah Emnett, Rowing, Tulsa
2016-17	Kirk Smith, Cross Country/Track and Field, Tulsa
	Juliana Madzia, Cross Country/Track and Field, Cincinnati
2017-18	Chandler Klemm, Soccer, Memphis
	Vendela Norman, Swimming & Diving, East Carolina
2018-19	Austin Allen, Tennis, East Carolina
	Enna Selmanovic, Swimming & Diving, Cincinnati
2019-20	Din Selmanovic, Swimming & Diving, Cincinnati
	Stasia Mallin, Soccer, Memphis
2020-21	Alec Trela, Baseball, Memphis
	Jeni Griffin, Swimming & Diving, Tulane
2021-22	Chonnor Ludolph, Track and Field, Wichita State
	Michelle Joyce, Cross Country/Track and Field, Temple
2022-23	Johann Jeremiah, Track and Field, South Florida
	Sophia LoCicero, Lacrosse, East Carolina