MIAMI (June 20, 2016) – Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod named the 14 recipients of the Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Awards today, and former men's soccer goalkeeper,
Robin Spiegel was selected as the recipient for FIU.
This is the eighth year the award has been named for Dr. Castañeda, who served Rice University for 46 years as an educator, coach and Faculty Athletics Representative before he passed away in November 2008. The conference annually awards the $4,000 Postgraduate Scholarships to graduates as selected by the C-USA Faculty Athletics Representatives and approved by the Board of Directors.
FIU goalkeeper Spiegel was a four-year letter winner for the Panther men's soccer team with a double major in international business and management. He graduated with a 3.77 GPA, maintained Dean's List status all four years and earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree. On the pitch, he was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team after starting in goal all 18 games of his rookie season. A native of Wipperfürth, Germany, Spiegel has been accepted to graduate school at fellow C-USA member Charlotte, Boston College, St. John's University and Cologne Business School in his home country.
In 35 career games with the Panthers, Spiegel recorded 99 saves and logged a 1.57 goals against average.
The Panthers finished the year ranked as the conference's top scoring offense with 41 goals, 36 assists for 118 points. FIU ranks No. 14 in the nation in goals, No. 21 in the nation in assists and No. 18 in the nation in total points. Averaging 5.90 points-per-game (No. 10 in the nation), FIU notched two-or-more goals in 13 of the team's 20 matches this season.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUMensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer) for all the latest Men's Soccer news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
