LAX's Quinlan Earns NEILA Academic Honors

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – A record 221 student-athletes—including Mitchell College's Marcel Quinlan—have been selected to the 2021 New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) All-Academic Teams, announced by the organization on Monday afternoon.

Members of the teams are nominated by head coaches in Divisions I, II and III, and are comprised of student-athletes who have excelled both in the classroom and on the field over the course of their men's lacrosse career.

The list represents an increase of nearly 100 student-athletes from the 2019 selections. No teams were selected last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Quinlan, Mitchell's starting goalie for the past four years, played in 39 career games and amassed 570 saves in 2,200 minutes of action. In his final season he started all eight games and led the Mariners to three victories with a career-best save percentage of .534. He finished his career ranked among the program's all-time leaders in saves (second) and wins (third).  

Brown University led all institutions with 13 candidates this year, followed by Providence, with 11 student-athletes honored. Division III co-leaders Babson and Wesleyan also had 11 selections apiece. Overall, 50 different colleges and universities were represented across all three divisions. 

Ten schools from Division I made up the 53 All-Academic award winners, while 27 honorees represented eight different schools in Division II, where Bentley led the way with eight student-athletes.

Joining Wesleyan and Babson in double-digits from Division III were Endicott and Clark, who had 10 All-Academic selections each. In total, 141 Division III players representing 32 institutions made an appearance on this year's squads.

Nominees must have senior or graduate student standing, a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale, and be a significant enough player that he was nominated for at least all-conference selection.