Lebo’s Hagy earns acclaim
Luke Hagy of Mt. Lebanon has been named to the All-Ivy League pre-season football team. He earned third-team acclaim as a running back on offense. Additionally, the 6-0, 186-pound sophomore has been named to the College Football Performance Awards Watch List for its 2013 CFPA All-Purpose Performer of the Year Award. Hagy is one of 32 players nationally on that list.
The distinctions come on the heels of a stunning freshman campaign at Cornell for the son of Scott and Karen Hagy. In fact, his performances merited him a finalist spot for the prestigious Jerry Rice Award, which is given annually to the national freshman of the year in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Cornell’s leading rusher (528 yards, seven touchdowns), Hagy ranked seventh in the Ivy League in that category. He was one of two Big Red freshmen named to the College Sports Journal FCS All-Freshman Team. The two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week ranked second in the Ancient Eight in both scoring and all-purpose yardage in conference games only.
Hagy finished the year ranked in the top 10 in the Ivy League in rushing, receptions, all-purpose yards and scoring. The conference’s top receiving back, he finished fourth on the squad in receptions (48) and receiving yards (513) with two touchdowns.
Hagy established a Cornell freshman record with his 1,054 all-purpose yards. He posted his first career 100-yard rushing game with 124 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries at Columbia, adding eight receptions for 62 yards. He ran for 69 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries against Ivy champ Penn, while also catching seven passes for 83 yards. He scored a receiving touchdown vs. Dartmouth and had 88 yards rushing and two touchdowns vs. Yale, part of a day with 157 all-purpose yards.
The Almanac’s 2012 male athlete of the year dominated the local scene when he competed in football, basketball and baseball at Mt. Lebanon.
Hagy, a two-time first-team all-state selection, led the league with 1,907 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior. In the process, he became the school’s career rushing leader. Hagy was named the Army Iron Man of the Year for Pennsylvania as the state’s best two-way player as a senior. He totaled 2,125 all-purpose yards with 25 touchdowns and six two-point conversion scores at running back and posted 81 tackles with three interceptions and 11 pass breakups.
Hagy rushed for more than 4,000 career yards.
He was a three-year captain in football and baseball and a two-year captain for the basketball team. He was an all-section selection as an outfielder after hitting .451 as a junior and helped his team reach the quarterfinals in the state playoffs his senior season. He was the starting point guard on a team that reached the finals of the state championship tournament. On the hardwood, Hagy set school records for career assists (486) and steals (380) while scoring 879 points.
Hagy, whose grandfather, Anthony Cugini, played football at Penn, is enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
This fall, he will key the offense as fall practice begins in mid-August. The Big Red opens the 2013 season at home against Bucknell on Sept. 21 at Schoellkopf Field.