ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum College senior Lukas Winkelmann has been selected as the 2014-2015 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year announced league officials Wednesday.

Winkelmann earns this honor for a third straight season, becoming the third 3-time winner of this award in conference history. Winkelmann joins Presbyterian College's Donny Thoresen (1999, 2000, 2001) and Wingate University's Marius Dan (2002, 2003, 2004) as the only three-time SAC Men's Tennis Scholar Athletes of the Year.

This marks the sixth time in the last seven years that a Tusculum men's tennis player has earned the award, which recognizes athletic accomplishments, academic achievement, community service and leadership. The award is selected by the faculty athletic representatives of the league's 12 member institutions. TC's six honorees are the most by a SAC school since the 1999-2000 academic year.

Winkelmann completes the sweep of the top two SAC tennis awards, becoming the first SAC men's tennis player to earn Men's Tennis Player of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year accolades in the same year in three consecutive seasons.

In the classroom, Winkelmann sports a 3.98 cumulative grade point average as a pre-medicine major. He has earned selections to the Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, the TC President's List, the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll and the ITA All-Academic Team.

The Böblingen, Germany native spent the entire season ranked in the top-10 of the ITA/NCAA Division II National Singles Rankings and the top five of the Southeast Region poll. He finished the season with a perfect a 18-0 singles record at the top flight and finished his collegiate career with a 50-match regular season winning streak.

Winkelmann won five matches and advanced to the finals of the top singles bracket at the ITA Southeast Regional tournament in the fall. He owns wins against regionally ranked opponents from Queens and Bluefield State and was named the SAC Player of the Week twice.

On the doubles side, Lukas teamed with his brother Jonas as the duo compiled a perfect 19-0 record while earning All-SAC first team doubles honors in back-to-back seasons.

Winkelmann finished his collegiate-career with a 70-7 singles record and was a four-time All-SAC performer and was the SAC Freshman of the Year in 2012.

Winkelmann is a two-time Capital One Academic All-America® At-Large first team selection and is a nominee again this year.

Winkelmann serves in numerous leadership roles, including as team captain and as a representative on the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

In the community, Winkelmann has served as a volunteer at a local hospital and has spent time with Project "Tennis in Schools" to promote the sport of tennis at area elementary schools. Winkelmann assisted in caring for a local community member's horse after they were in a car accident during his sophomore season and has helped with the Tusculum Tennis Adopt-a-Family initiative to help a local family during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. A member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society, Winkelmann donated and delivered Christmas presents to children in the community.

Winkelmann has also stayed busy helping out on the Tusculum campus. He served as a volunteer with the Tusculum College Haunted House as a freshman to help the TC athletic department raise money. He has also spent time helping the Tusculum athletic department during SAC Championship events that the college has hosted. During his senior year, Winkelmann volunteered with the Remote Area Medical Clinic hosted by Tusculum College as a dental assistant and was a member of the Biology Club and the President's Society. Winkelmann also served as treasurer of the Alpha Chi Honor Society during his junior and senior years.

Winkelmann has been accepted to the Pennsylvania School of Medicine to continue his pursuit of becoming a dentist.

During his collegiate career, Winkelmann led the Pioneers to a combined 63-22 overall record, including 32-8 on South Atlantic Conference play. Tusculum went 18-2 this season, earned a No. 43 national ranking and captured the program's second SAC championship in the last three years.

He was named the 2014-15 Tusculum College Male Athlete of the Year, becoming the first three-time winner of the award in school history and only the second TC student-athlete overall to be named Athlete of the Year three times (Susan Starnes - 4-time winner).

"Lukas has established himself as a leader among his peers in the classroom as well as on the tennis court," said Tusculum tennis coach Tommy Arnett. "He is an outstanding young man who balances academics, athletics and his personal life. We are all very proud of Lukas and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors."

Since 2000, 53 Tusculum student-athletes have earned SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors for their respective sports, the most of any league member during that time span.

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