ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine announced on Monday, Jan. 30 that Sigi Koizar (Vienna, Austria) of the women's basketball team, Jesse Orach (Gorham, Maine) of the men's cross country and track and field teams and Sydney Veljacic (Coquitlam, British Columbia) of the field hockey team are the recipients of the 2017 "M" Club Dean Smith Awards. The awards are presented annually to the top male and female student-athletes with outstanding academic and athletic achievement along with citizenship and community service.

Koizar, who received the Dean Smith award for the second-straight year, spends her time away from the court giving back to the community and her peers. She is a tutor for student-athletes in Organic Chemistry and Microbiology and also shares her time volunteering with numerous organizations including Manna Ministries, Ronald McDonald House and Asa Adams elementary school. Koizar, who boasts a 3.97 grade point average in Biology with a pre-medical concentrations and a minor in Chemistry. has also spent countless hours dedicating her time to youth clinics in the Millinocket, Maine area while also participating in the UMaine "Hello" program and teaching youth at UMaine's summer sports camps. Academically, Koizar shines as not only one of the top student-athletes but one of the top students in all of UMaine's student body. Koizar, a 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-American, has been named to the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll four time and is a two-time member of the league's All-Academic team. She is a seven-time Presidential Scholar as well as a seven-time Dean's list selection. In the winter of 2016, Koizar was named one of the nation's 30 finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and is a two-time WBCA Good Works Team nominee. On Monday, Koizar was awarded a UMaine gold medallion and selected to her third "Team Maine", recognized as having the highest grade point average on the UMaine women's basketball team. A two-time America East All-Conference selection, Koizar has proven herself as one of the top players in UMaine women's basketball history. Koizar, who has appeared in 119 games for the Black Bears, ranks seventh on Maine's all-time scoring list with 1,496 points. During her junior season, Koizar led the America East and ranked ninth in the country with a 43.4-percent mark from 3-point range. Koizar knocked down 85 shots from beyond the arc in the 2015-16 season, a new UMaine single-season record. Following her junior season, Koizar ranked in the top-10 of nine different America East statistical categories.

Orach, also a two-time Dean Smith honoree, graduated summa cum laude with a grade point average of 3.96 in May of 2016 with B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in mathematics, earned multi-year selections to the America East All-Academic team in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Earlier in the fall of 2016, he earned his second-straight America East Elite 17 award for highest academic achievement of all cross country participants in the Championships. Orach, a six-time Dean's List honoree, is a multi-year Presidential Scholar and a National AP Scholar with Distinction. Orach, a three-time Team Maine selection, spent his time away from campus as a volunteer at the Mission Possible Teen Center and soup kitchen, numerous school practices and meets as well as serving as an organic chemistry tutor at UMaine. In competition in the fall of 2016, Orach, who received his second gold medallion, earned five America East Performer of the Week honors before winning the America East Cross Country Championship; the first to do so from UMaine since 2011. Orach has earned many inductions to prestigious honor societies during his time at UMaine including the Tay Beta Phi Society, Alpha Lambda Delta and the National Honor Society for Collegiate Scholars.

Veljacic, a double major in accounting and management with a 3.77 grade point average, is a four-time America East Academic Honor Roll and America East All-Academic team selection. Selected to the Dean's List on five occasions, Veljacic is a three-time UMaine Presidential Scholar and has twice been honored to the National Academic Squad as a Scholar of Distinction with the SGI National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). She has dedicated her time as an Ambassador for the Maine Business school for two years and was earlier inducted to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and earned a scholar-athlete gold medallion in the winter of 2017. Veljacic has donated her time back through numerous Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) events, serving as a volunteer umpire and coach while also working on the America East's 'You Can Play' initiative and volunteering with the Ronald McDonald House. As an athlete, Veljacic was named to the America East All-Rookie team and has twice been named to both the America East All-Conference second team and the Division-I Northeast Region first team. This past fall, she was chosen for the 2016 Victory Sports Tours, NFHCA Division-I Senior Game and as an alternate for the Senior All-Star team. During her senior season, she tallied 14 points with three goals and eight assists.

The "M" Club Dean Smith Award was first presented as the "M" Club Scholarship Award in 1980. The award was renamed to honor Dean Smith in 1993. Dean Smith was a recipient of the Walter Byers Award presented by the NCAA. Smith combined the top grade-point average among senior electrical engineering majors with the NAC scoring title as the captain of the 1989-90 men's basketball team.

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