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2020 Egli Winners Steve DiSipio (L) of Penn State Brandywine and Kaylea Flick (R) of Penn State New Kensington.
2020 Egli Winners Steve DiSipio (L) of Penn State Brandywine and Kaylea Flick (R) of Penn State New Kensington.
2020 Egli Winners Steve DiSipio (L) of Penn State Brandywine and Kaylea Flick (R) of Penn State New Kensington.
Posted: May 18, 2020

Brandywine's DiSipio, New Kensington's Flick named 2020 John S. Egli Award Winners

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State University Athletic Conference announced its 2020 John S. Egli Award winners this week, as Penn State Brandywine’s Steve DiSipio and Penn State New Kensington’s Kaylea Flick were honored with the conference’s highest student-athlete honor.

The award, named for former Assistant Professor John Egli, recognizes one male and one female student-athlete from around the Commonwealth for outstanding academic achievement, athletic success and community service.

DiSipio completes his time at Brandywine as a two-sport student-athlete, participating in tennis and also being an integral part of the men’s soccer team. During his career in soccer, DiSipio was a part of four PSUAC championship team and also was part of the 2018 USCAA National Championship team at Brandywine. A two-year captain, DiSipio never lost a conference soccer game during his career and was Brandywine’s recipient of the John Fritz Sportsmanship Award in 2019. DiSipio compiled a 30-15 record during his tennis career, serving as captain for two years.

In addition to his athletic prowess, DiSipio was also an excellent student. He earned PSUAC All-Academic honors all four years (3.0 GPA or higher) and was also a three-time recipient of the USCAA National All-Academic award (3.5 GPA or higher). DiSipio graduated this spring with a Letters, Arts and Sciences degree, concentrating in earth science and environmental studies, along with a minor in environmental inquiry. DiSipio was active on his campus with the Sustainovation Club and with student research. His most notable research investigated the impact the campus’ use of rock salt had on the water chemistry of the nearby streams that run through and around the Brandywine campus. DiSipio presented his findings both locally and regionally and was eventually honored with the GeoCUR Award for Excellence in Student Research from the Council on Undergraduate Research in Washington, D.C.

Flick finished her degree in just three years at New Kensington, all while participating in volleyball and spending a year with the softball program. Flick served as captain of the volleyball team in each of her three seasons, earning All-Conference honors in 2018 and 2019. In addition, Flick was named to the USCAA All-American team in 2018 (2nd Team) and 2019 (Honorable Mention). In her final two seasons, Flick finished in the top 10 of the USCAA in kills per set. But perhaps Flick’s greatest recognition came this past fall when she was named the USCAA’s Student-Athlete of the Year, the national association’s equivalent of the Egli Award for outstanding academic, athletic and community achievement.

During her time at New Kensington, Flick served as the volleyball team’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council representative; acted as the secretary/treasurer of the Penn State Biobehavioral Health Club; sat on the Penn State New Kensington Student Government Association; and participated in THON fundraising. Flick earned Dean’s List honors in every semester and also received the College Academic Award for the College of Health and Human Development in spring 2018, which is presented to the student with the highest GPA in that college. Beyond her academic endeavors, Flick also volunteered at Knead Café in New Kensington and also for Pave the Clay—Steve King Foundation, a non-profit in the auto racing world that helps injured drivers with medical bills and recovery.

Normally, our Egli Award recipients are recognized at our annual awards banquet. However, due to COVID-19, the banquet was cancelled this spring. While both Kaylea and Steve will be invited to a future banquet, the PSUAC is using other ways to showcase these two outstanding student-athletes. On Tuesday, May 19th, DiSipio’s acceptance speech and interview with PSUAC Commissioner Ryan Ehrie will be posted to the PSUAC Instagram and Twitter accounts. Flick will follow on Wednesday, May 20th with her interview and speech.

You can follow the PSUAC on Twitter (@PSUAC) and Instagram (PSUAC) for all of our updates.