LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East has announced its Senior Scholar Athlete Award winners for the winter season. This award recognizes a senior who truly represents the student-athlete model by performing in competition, in the classroom and around the community.

This season, two student-athletes from two different member institutions were recognized.
 

Student-Athlete	Sport	Institution
Kendis Butler	Women's Basketball	Penn State Harrisburg
Andrew Zentner	Men's Basketball	Lancaster Bible College

 

Kendis Butler

If there is an event taking place on or around the Penn State Harrisburg campus, there are pretty solid odds that Butler is taking part in it. The senior has pitched in on numerous community service projects in her time as a Lion most recently aiding with the housing of a refugee family that had fled Ukraine this year. Butler has also made an effort to visit local grade schools to participate in Read Across America Day. On campus, Butler is the current Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President as well as a member of the Harrisburg Sports Information Staff.

In the classroom, the York, Pa. native has maintained a GPA of 3.96 while majoring in Communication and minoring in American Studies. Over her four years, she was tabbed to the All-Academic Team by the conference four times and most recently earned a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District nod in 2023.

Perhaps her most impressive accomplishments came on the basketball court. The three time All-Conference recipient has prided herself on her 3-ball as her 295 made 3-pointers across her career leads all active Division III players. The guard has rewrote the program history books as well, most notably becoming the all-time leading scorer in January (1,277 points).
 

 

Andrew Zentner

Described as humble and passionate in every aspect by his coach, Zentner has found success on and off the court throughout his time as a Charger. The Morgantown, Pa. native was a force in the paint for the Chargers, averaging 10.6 points-per-game and 6.6 rebounds-per-game. Over that span, the forward also racked up 100 blocks despite overcoming a season-ending injury in 2021-22. Most recently, Zentner was named to the All-Conference Second Team in 2023. 

Off the court, Zentner has performed just as well as he carries a 3.84 GPA in Criminal Justice. His efforts led to him earning the Elite 14 award this winter, which is given to the player at the championship site with the highest GPA. Some of his most noteworthy accomplishments came in the community though. Zentner volunteers his time all over the place including an organization called Crossnet in which he meets with kids who may be struggling with things in their lives. He also has participated in the “Hope.Inspire.Love” initiative which deals with the problems of human trafficking and Fellowship of Christian Athletes which organizes youth summer camps for young athletes.

Butler and Zentner join the five fall student-athletes as the first to win the awards in their respective sports. Find them all here: SENIOR SCHOLAR ATHLETES

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The United East has nine NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Gallaudet University, Lancaster Bible College, Morrisville State, Penn College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg, St. Mary's College of Maryland and Wells College. The United East also includes three associate members in the sport of men’s golf including Clarks Summit University, Rosemont College, Rutgers University – Camden and Wilson College. Clarks Summit University is also an associate member in the sport of men’s tennis. The United East has also partnered with the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in the sports of men's and women's lacrosse. For more information, please visit: gounitedeast.com