Men’s soccer: Boehm wins academic award

The Big East Academic Affairs Committee named Pitt men’s soccer player Justin Boehm Pitt’s… The Big East Academic Affairs Committee named Pitt men’s soccer player Justin Boehm Pitt’s 2010-11 Institutional Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

One athlete from each of the Big East’s 16 schools receives the award, which includes a $2,000 scholarship to apply to graduate studies.

“The award means a lot. It’s a great honor to be selected out of all the exceptional student-athletes here,” Boehm said.

Boehm has post-graduate plans now that his collegiate soccer career is over.

“I got accepted to Chatham’s doctor of physical therapy program,” he said. “But I’m also very interested in Pitt’s prosthetics and orthotics master’s program.”

Boehm, a senior midfielder, was named to the Big East All-Academic Team for the past three years. He’s a natural sciences major with a 3.75 GPA.

“Honestly, it was all about time management. I was able to find a balance between doing my school work in between practice and games,” he said. “I found out early in my college career that if I fell behind on my studies, it was very difficult to catch up on it with practices and games going on.”

A South Park, Pa., native, Boehm scored two goals and started 16 of 17 games this season. He started 51 of 62 career games in four seasons, registering five goals and two assists.

“He maximized his potential as a soccer player, and he was just as successful in the classroom, Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher said in an email. “Justin epitomizes the image of a true “student athlete”.”