The University of North Alabama's Douglas Hargett has been named the NCAA Division II Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row by the NCAA Division II Commissioners Association. The group also named Jill Theeler of North Dakota State University as the nation's top Division II female scholar-athlete.

The Division II Scholar-Athletes of the Year awards are sponsored by Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

The selection of Hargett and Theeler caps a selection process guided by the Division II Commissioners Association. Hargett and Theeler were selected from a field of eight men's and eight women's regional winners.

This is the third year for the Division II Scholar-Athlete of the Year award program. Hargett is the first repeat winner and provides North Alabama with a winner in each of the last three years. In 2000, Rachel Price of North Alabama was named the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

"We are all very proud of the quality student-athletes that Division II institutions produce annually," said Barry Blizzard, commissioner of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and president of the Division II Commissioners Association. "Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex has helped Division II in many ways, and we are grateful to them for helping us to recognize this outstanding talent."

Hargett won the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American Baseball Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive year after batting .411. A biology/political science double major, Hargett also earned all-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association. He captured North Alabama's Turris Fidelis Award as the top graduating senior among all students at the university. In addition to chairing the North Alabama Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Hargett was active in community-service programs with the American Heart Association, the United Way, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Theeler also was named the Verizon/CoSIDA Cross Country/Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. As a member of the Division II indoor champion 1,600-meter relay team, Theeler led North Dakota State to a first-place finish at the 2002 NCAA indoor championships and a second-place team finish at the 2002 outdoor championships. The business administration major earned 19 all-America honors during her career. An NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient, Theeler was instrumental in developing reading programs for the elderly and elementary school students in the Fargo area. A co-founder of the NDSU Athletes in Action chapter, Theeler also served on the university's athletics director search committee.

Other men's regional winners were Arturo Cabral (Lewis University); Alex Kellner (Newberry College); Kevyn McBride (Alderson-Broaddus College); Mike Plate (California State University, Bakersfield); Josh Ranek (University of South Dakota); Mike Scarinci (Molloy College); and Tucker Woolsey (Northwest Missouri State University).

Other women's regional winners were Adriane Blewitt (Ashland University); Katerina Glosova (North Carolina Central University); Laura Hall (Indiana University of Pennsylvania); Jeannette Mott (Pittsburg State University); Amy Pope (California State University, San Bernardino); Heather Marie Schlesinger (Assumption College); and Kristina Styrna (University of West Florida).

The Division II Commissioners Association also designated the following student-athletes as members of the Commissioners Honor Roll for academic and athletics achievement: Nkosi Symonette (Fort Valley State University); Mike Veith (Rollins College); Shernika Powell [Albany State University (Georgia)]; Katie Wolfe (Florida Southern College); Robert Montgomery (University of Massachusetts at Lowell); Toni Germie (Dowling College); Curry Dawson (Angelo State University); Matthew Miller (Drury University); Dar'ya Chernova [Lincoln University (Missouri)]; Summer Sparnon (Texas A&M University-Commerce); Steven Brandt (University of Minnesota, Crookston); Heath Kidd [Regis University (Colorado)]; Kristy Gordy (Northern State University); Beth Swift (University of Nebraska at Kearney); Matt Cameron (Michigan Technological University); Michelle Cottrell (Northern Kentucky University); Scott Prather (University of Hawaii at Hilo); Erik Totten (Western Washington University); Petra Gaspar (Brigham Young University, Hawaii); Nichole Sauvageau (Seattle University); Harmony Noda (Limestone College); Ben Case (Pfeiffer University); Alex Daecher (Kutztown University of Pennsylvania); Cassandra Miller (Bluefield State College); Shawn Alexander (Winston-Salem State University); Matt Incinelli (University of North Florida); Jenna Calomeris (Wingate University); and Thea Moen (University of South Carolina-Spartanburg).