TOLEDO, Ohio - Former women's basketball player Sophie Reecher and current senior baseball player Josh Cales have been selected to receive the Mid-American Conference Medal of Excellence Award.  
 
Reecher and Cales have been picked by the University of Toledo to receive this award for their collegiate career in both academics and athletics excellence. Both student-athletes have been successful on the playing field, in the classroom and proven their fineness through leadership and service.
 
Reecher and Cales will be awarded the Medal of Excellence at the Mid-American Conference Honors Dinner on Wednesday, May 31 at 5:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland.

An exercise science major with a concentration as a Physician's Assistant and a 3.55 GPA, Reecher contributed 2.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.3 steals in 8.1 minutes per game in 2016-17. The three-time team captain appeared in 32 of 33 contests off the bench and finished second on the squad in overall field-goal percentage (.542, 32-of-59) and tied for fifth in rejections (4). She also scored in double figures on two occasions, including a season-high 11 points vs. Kent State in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament (March 8) and led the Midnight Blue & Gold in rebounding twice and blocked shots once.
    
A member of UT's Dean's List in four of the last five semesters, Reecher posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in Fall 2016. The two-time Academic All-Team honoree also earned the team's Roy & Gail Hummel Scholarship for 2016-17, awarded to the senior women's basketball student-athlete with the highest GPA.

Reecher helped the Rockets capture their eighth Mid-American Conference title in program history and advance to the 2017 NCAA Championships for the first time since 2001. UT finished with a 25-9 overall ledger and a 12-6 mark in the league, equaling the fifth-most wins in single history.
    
A finance major with a 3.941 GPA, Cales is currently hitting .236 (13-for-55) with eight runs scored, four doubles, one triple, two home runs and eight RBI in 23 games this spring. The Wauseon, Ohio native has hit safely in 10 contests, including three multi-hit efforts. Cales has also appeared in 10 games on the mound in relief, tallying a 1-2 record with a 2.65 ERA in 17.0 innings. He has allowed nine runs (five earned) on 13 hits with 15 punchouts. Earlier this season, the 2016 Academic All-MAC recipient earned his first collegiate victory on the hill against Buffalo, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts (April 15). 

A member of UT's Dean's List in each of the last seven semesters, Cales posted a perfect 4.0 GPA on four occasions in Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Spring 2015 and most recently Fall 2016. 

Cales and the Rockets (14-33) host Dayton this afternoon, May 10, at 3:05 p.m. at Scott Park before entertaining MAC West Division frontrunner Central Michigan on Friday-Sunday, May 12-14, in their final home series of the season.