Feb. 25, 2007

ORONO, Maine- The University of Maine announced on Sunday that Tal Shpaizer and Matt McGraw are the 2007 recipients of the M Club Dean Smith Award. The award is presented to the male and female student-athlete with outstanding academic and athletic achievement along with citizenship and community service.

Tal Shpaizer (Shoham, Israel) is a senior on the women's swimming and diving team. This season at the America East Championships she was third in the 200 back, eleventh in the 100 butterfly, and and tenth in the 200 IM. She also holds school records in the 100 butterfly, 200 IM and a member of two relay teams that hold records. A Business Administration and Financial Economics major, she has been named to the America East Commissioners Honor Roll three times and is also a Maine Scholar-Athlete.

Matt McGraw (Burlington, Ontario) is a senior outfielder for the baseball team. He is a captain of the team this season and is expected to start in left field. In 2006 he was named to the America East second team and All-New England second team as he posted a .333 batting average with 67 hits, 55 runs scored and 39 RBI. McGraw was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team. As a rookie he was named to the America East All-Rookie team. A Business Administration major, he is a Maine Scholar-Athlete and has been named to the America East Commissioners Honor Roll.

The 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.

In addition, the University of Maine Athletic Department named the first "Team Maine" representing the top student-athlete on each of the teams for the 2006 academic year. Those honored were:

Brittany Boser, Women's Basketball, Chemical Engineering
Ryan Canary, Football, Secondary Education
Chris Hahn, Men's Ice Hockey, Business
Jason Jacobe, Men's Soccer, Mechanical Engineering
Jesse Keith, Men's Basketball, Business Administration
Lauren LaRoche, Women's Track/Cross Country, English
Brock Libby, Men's Swimming, Economics/Business Administration
Matt McGraw, Baseball, Business Administration
Eric Newman, Men's Track/Cross Country, Civil Engineering
Alexis Pullen, Softball, Elementary Education
Shelly Seipp, Volleyball, Kinesiology and Physical Education
Karine Senecal, Women's Ice Hockey, Kinesiology and Physical Education
Tal Shpaizer, Women's Swimming, Business Administration/Financial Economics
Kim Stephenson, Women's Soccer, Civil Engineering
Erin Reusch, Field Hockey, Kinesiology and Physical Education
Raechel Wark, Cheering, Nursing

For more information on University of Maine athletics, visit www.GoBlackBears.com.