Moon Township, Pa. - Senior Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston) of Robert Morris University was honored by the Northeast Conference Wednesday for her performance on the field and in the classroom, as she was selected the 2012 NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the sport of softball.

To be eligible for the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in a sport, a student-athlete must have earned a minimum of 60 semester hours, maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.20 and participated with distinction as a member of a varsity team.

An applied psychology major, Timko posted a 3.69 grade point average over the course of her academic career at RMU.

Timko's honor marks the third straight year a student-athlete from Robert Morris earns the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor in softball. Former Colonial Annie Dubovec (2008-11) was bestowed the honor in both 2010 and 2011. Timko is also the fourth player in school history to be named the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for softball, joining former Colonials Stephani Ehrenfeld (2000), Nicole Aloi (2001) and Dubovec.

In helping lead Robert Morris to its second straight NEC regular-season title in 2012, Timko hit .355 while leading the Colonials in on-base percentage (.431), slugging percentage (.553), runs (35) and home runs (7). Against league foes, she scored 20 runs in 20 NEC tilts to pace the circuit and also connected for six home runs in league play, tied for most in the league.

A three-time All-NEC selection, Timko compiled a .359 batting average throughout the course of her four years in an RMU uniform, establishing a new school record in the category. She also broke an 18-year old career record by crossing the plate 130 times, tops in school history. The second Colonial to eclipse 200 career hits, Timko also ranks second all-time at Robert Morris in career home runs (27) and fourth in RBI (92).

In addition to the honor for Timko, a total of 122 student-athletes from Robert Morris covering nine spring sports, including 77 female student-athletes, were named to the 2012 NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll. To be eligible for the honor roll, student-athletes must have posted a cumulative GPA of 3.20 and be an active member of an officially recognized varsity team. Freshmen are eligible for the honor roll.

Of RMU's 122 student-athletes to be named to the 2012 NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll, 42 earned spots on the NEC Spring Commissioner's Honor Roll. To garner the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.75, and freshmen are eligible for the honor roll.

To view the entire list of Robert Morris student-athletes that competed in a spring sport named to either the 2012 NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll or the 2012 NEC Spring Commissioner's Honor Roll, please click on the respective links associated with this article.