BOSTON – University of Maine senior Aaron Izaryk, a catcher on the Black Bear baseball team, has been named the America East Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Izaryk and Vermont soccer player-skier Amy Cochran, the Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, were selected from a group of 22 scholar-athletes by a committee of athletic administrators and NCAA faculty athletics representatives at America East institutions.

Izaryk, a four-time all-conference selection, has a 3.65 grade-point average as a kinesiology and physical education major. He helped lead the Black Bears to two conference championships and two NCAA appearances. The Markham, Ontario, native was the winner of the 2005 Dean Smith Award given to Maine’s top scholar-athlete. He will return to Maine this fall as a graduate assistant for the baseball team.

Izaryk’s selection as the conference’s top male scholar-athlete follows that of Jake Jentzer of Bangor, a swimmer who earned the award for the 2003-04 school year.