Framingham State men's ice hockey senior defenseman Ben Colby (Newbury, MA) and Fitchburg State field hockey senior midfielder Sarah Peltokangas (New Ipswich, NH) were recently named winners of the 2006-07 Howard C. Smith Scholar Athlete Award. 

This award has been presented annually since 1980 to a male and/or female student athlete who has excelled in academics and athletics while attending a Massachusetts State College. This award is named in honor of Howard C. Smith, a former State College Trustee, who was largely responsible for the formation of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference and the acceptance of intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the State College Education System.

To be considered for this award a student athlete must be nominated by the Director of Athletics of a member institution and must have achieved at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average. The student athlete must be in his or her last year of athletic eligibility. The recipients are selected by the MASCAC Athletic Directors in voting conducted at the annual year-end conference meeting.