The Big East Conference rewarded its biggest bookworm student athletes today and some Blue Demons are among them.

DePaul Blue Demon women’s soccer player Alexa Ben and men’s cross country and track and field runner Jake Pecorin won the 2017-2018 Big East Institutional Scholar-Athlete award presented by Sunkist. The Academic Affairs Committee from the conference selected one male and one female student athlete from each Big East School and the winners earned a $2,500 scholarship.

Pecorin earned a spot on the Big East All-Academic team last year and the senior is majoring in biological science with a concentration in ecology and evolution and minoring in psychological research methods. He holds career personal bests of 15:08.94 in the 5,000-meter run on the track, and 31:31.69 in the 10,000-meter run in cross country.

Ben isn’t a stranger to winning awards. The United Soccer Coaches named her to the Women’s Scholar All-North/Central Region teams in early December, and Ben was one of twelve women to earn First Team honors. At the end of November, Ben earned a First Team selection for the Senior CLASS Award which recognizes student athletes with outstanding achievements in the community, classroom and in competition and who demonstrate excellent character through their participation in Division I athletics.

During her time at DePaul, the Schaumburg, Ill. native earned a 2016 United Soccer Coaches Scholar-Athlete All-America Second Team designation, a 2016 United Soccer Coaches Scholar-Athlete All-Region First Team designation, and a 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Second Team designation while earning Big East All-Academic Team honors on three occasions. Last month, the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League drafted her and she will earn her degree in advertising and public relations from DePaul in June.