Orono, Maine – The University of Maine Athletic Department is proud to announce that Anna Schumann of the women's track & field team and Andrew Plese of the men's swimming & diving program are the recipients of the 2021 'M' Club Dean Smith awards.
 
The 'M' Club Dean Smith award is the most prestigious award presented annually to the top male and female student-athletes at the University of Maine. To be considered for this award, athletes are nominated by their coaches and must have demonstrated outstanding academic and athletic achievement, be of outstanding character and a contributor and leader within their community.
 
It was in 1992 that the 'M' Club named the award after former UMaine student-athletes standout Dean Smith. In 1990, Smith had the top grade-point average among electrical engineering majors at UMaine and was the Northeast Atlantic Conference scoring leader in men's basketball. He was a three-time Academic All-American, and he received the prestigious NCAA Walter Byers Award as the nation's top scholar-athlete.
 
Schumann, a two-year track and field team captain and senior from Moers, Germany, is double majoring in molecular & cellular biology and microbiology with a minor in biochemistry with a 3.991 grade point average. Schumann, who competes in the jumping events for the Black Bears, has been a multi-year scorer at the America East and New England Championships in the triple jump. Most recently, she placed second in the triple jump with a career best 12.14m leap and 15^th in the long jump with another career-high score at 5.24m at the 2020 America East Indoor Championship. In 2019, Schumann finished third in the triple jump at the New England Outdoor Championship. Schumann earned the league's Performer of the Week accolade in 2019.
 
Academically, Schumann has excelled during her four years at the University of Maine. A seven-time Dean's List selection, six-time Presidential Scholar, three-time America East Commissioner's Honor Roll selection, and a two-time America East All-Academic Team. In 2019-20, Schumann earned the University of Maine Center for Undergraduate Fellowship and the University's Institute of Medicine Fellowship in 2020-21. She has stepped outside of her normal requirements as a student-athlete to elevate her expertise in her field in research presentations at the local, regional, and national level. For the past two years, Schumann has served as a research assistant in Dr. Sally Molly's Research Laboratory along with spending any free time she has assisting fellow students as a peer tutor in chemistry, organic chemistry, and statistics. Schumann was recently accepted into Cornell University to pursue a PhD in biomedical and biological studies.
 
Plese, a senior on the men's swimming & diving team from Richardson, Texas is majoring in kinesiology & physical education – exercise science, with a minor in interdisciplinary disability students, has made the most of his UMaine experience as he has extended his efforts in the pool, in the classroom, and throughout the UMaine and region through his community service efforts. In the pool, Plese is a four-year letterwinner. Plese focused his efforts on a variety of events during his four years including 1,650 freestyle, 400 IM, 100 and 200 breaststroke, and 200 backstroke. Plese earned the Erin Woolley Memorial Award as the member of the team who best embodied the dedication and contributions that Woolley made to the program during her time at UMaine.
 
In the classroom, Plese was selected by UMaine faculty to serve as a student ambassador for the College of Education and Human Development. A four-time Dean's List recipient, Please has earned four selections to the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll and was honored with the Palmer Plaque for Academic Excellence. Outside of his academic and athletic duties, Plese has dedicated numerous hours to volunteer work at the University of Maine. Serving as secretary for UMaine's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Plese has assisted with and directed many of UMaine's community initiatives. Under his guidance, UMaine's SAAC was able to raise over $3,000 in 2019 and $2,500 in 2020 to aid in the fight against food insecurity for the greater campus community. In the Fall of 2020, Please played a significant role in the push for all UMaine student-athletes to register to vote and also made a successful push to make Election Day an 'off day' for students to focus on their right to vote. Please is the Campus Captain for 'The Hidden Opponent, an advocacy group that raises awareness for student-athlete mental health and fights to break the stigma surrounding mental health in athletics. To assist in generating mental health awareness, Plese led the charge in creating the messaging for a public service announcement video focusing on the knowledge and perception of mental health as it relates to student-athletes. In a credit to his efforts, the video won first place in the America East SAAC PSA Challenge. Outside of his duties with SAAC, Please has volunteered in several community outreach activities including spending time at the Eastside Center for Health and Rehabilitation & The Institute for Orthopedic and Sports Rehabilitation, Relay for Life, and the Junior Black Bears Swimming and Diving program.

The M Club, founded in 1932, is the letter winner association of the University of Maine and has been a fixture in supporting athletics since then. Varsity athletic competitions began at the University in 1881, and nearly 20,000 men and women have earned their letter in more than 30 different sports. It is through active letter winner and honorary member dues that the club has given financial support back to the athletic development for 88 years. The club's motto reads; "dedicated to Maine Athletics: past, present and future."

The 2020-21 UMaine Scholar-Athlete Recognition Awards Ceremony was proudly presented by the University of Maine Foundation, the M Club, the University of Maine Alumni Association, and University Credit Union.

-UMaine-