NEW YORK - Senior middle distance runner Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) was named Villanova's female winner of a BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Sunkist, in an announcement made by the conference office on Friday morning. The award comes with a $2,000 scholarship which can be applied to graduate or professional studies. This is the second straight year that a women's cross country and track & field student-athlete has been the Wildcats female award winner of a scholar-athlete award.

Twenty student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST's 10 member institutions) were named as BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete award winners in Friday's announcement, with an overall Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year also being announced. The awards are voted on by the BIG EAST Academic Affairs Committee.

Piccirillo has embodied the true meaning of a student-athlete during her collegiate career and has been a three-time selection to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team. She was also named to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team for cross country following the 2015 season. Piccirillo was named the Office of Academic Support Villanova Student-Athlete of the Month in January.

"Angel is very disciplined as a student-athlete, which is what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level," Wildcats head coach Gina Procaccio said. "She has maintained great balance in her life. It can't be all about running or all about academics, and it can't be all social. Angel does a great job of balancing all three to give herself the complete college experience."

Piccirillo is a six-time All-American during her collegiate career, including earning first team All-America honors indoors in the Mile last season and the distance medley relay in 2013. She is also a seven-time BIG EAST champion and a six-time Penn Relays champion for Villanova. As a cross country runner, Piccirillo earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors in both 2013 and 2015.

Academic and athletic accomplishments throughout a student-athlete's entire career are taken into account for the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. Piccirillo made a name for herself on the national scene at the very beginning of her collegiate career, as she was a part of two winning Championship of America relays at the Penn Relays. She led off the Wildcats distance medley relay and also ran the second leg of the 4x800 meter relay which set an all-time collegiate record with a winning time of 8:17.45.

Piccirillo is a two-time qualifier for the NCAA Championships outdoors in the 1500 meters and has twice earned second team All-America honors in the event. She also qualified for the indoor national championships for the first time last year and wound up placing seventh in the Mile to garner first team All-America recognition.

The current indoor season has been a dominant one for Piccirillo, who ranks in the top 10 on the national performance list at three different distances. She posted a time of 2:43.04 in the 1000 meters at the Great Dane Classic last month in her first race of the season. That mark is the second-fastest in the nation this season and also the second-fastest in school history. Piccirillo also ranks sixth on the national performance list in the Mile (4:36.00) and eighth in the 3000 meters (9:06.39).