Senior Jess Rheinheimer leads the Eastern Mennonite University Royals up the court during a game against Penn State-Altoona. Rheinheimer was awarded ODAC Player of the Year as well as the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete award this week. (Photo by Scott Eyre)

Jess Rheinheimer: two-time ODAC Player of the Year and Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete

Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) is leaving her mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), as the Eastern Mennonite senior was named a repeat selection as ODAC Player of the Year as well as ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete.

The conference awards were announced Wednesday, Feb. 24 at a banquet in Salem, preceding the start of the ODAC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

After winning both awards last year in her first season as a full-time starter, Rheinheimer becomes the first woman in ODAC history to be named both the Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete twice.  Randolph-Macon’s Megan Silva accomplished the feat once in 2005.

Rheinheimer, a preseason First Team All-American by multiple publications, is currently averaging 19.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.  A versatile offensive threat, the 5-10 forward is eighth in the ODAC with a 48.0% shooting clip, including 35.0% from three point range, which is seventh.  She is also third in free throw percentage at 82.7%, connecting on 91-of-110 attempts.

Rheinheimer has scored in double figures in 23-of-25 games, with a season high of 35 in double overtime win over rival Bridgewater on Jan. 5.

An Academic All-American, Rheinheimer boasts a 3.95 grade point average as a nursing major with a minor in history.  The perennial EMU Dean’s List honoree is a finalist for the WBCA Good Works Team and will again be in the running for the Jostens Trophy, which honored Rheinheimer as the top NCAA Division III women’s basketball student-athlete in the country last season.  A member of the EMU Student Nurses Association, she has previously studied abroad in Honduras.