Eph All-Academic NESCAC honorees

2007 Fall NESCAC All-Academic Selections Announced

332 Fall Student-Athletes Receive Honors

HADLEY, Mass. - The New England Small College Athletic Conference announced its 2007 Fall All-Academic selections today, with 332 student-athletes that participated in a fall sport earning All-Academic recognition. To be honored, a student-athlete must have reached junior academic standing and be a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.35. A transfer student must have completed one year of study at the institution.

Of the 332 student-athletes that received Fall All-Academic accolades, a total of 123, more than one-third, had the honor bestowed upon them last autumn. 46 student-athletes on the 2007 Fall All-Academic squad also received NESCAC All-Conference recognition this past season. Nine Fall All-Academic selections also garnered both All-Conference and All-Sportsmanship honors, as Bowdoin's Brendan Egan (Westfield, N.J.), John Hall (Bow, N.H.) and Laura Onderko (Glastonbury, Conn.), Anna King (Greenland, N.H.) of Colby, Middlebury's Alex Elias (Manchester Center, Vt.), Catherine Beck (Brookline, N.H.) and David Sorensen (Dover, Mass.) of Tufts, Zach Librizzi (Essex Juction, Vt.) of Wesleyan, and Williams' Nathan Elwood (Andover, N.J.) each earned all three awards this fall.

Among the Fall All-Academic selections were two Amherst seniors that earned individual NESCAC honors during 2007. Jaclyn DeMais (Hillsdale, N.J.) received NESCAC Volleyball Player of the Year, while fellow Jeff Heather Wilson (Danvers, Mass.) came away with Most Outstanding Performer honors in Women's Cross Country.

DeMais, who also earned NESCAC All-Conference First Team recognition for the second-straight year, ranked third among all NESCAC players in hitting percentage and second in kills in 2007, as she hit at a .284 percent clip while averaging 4.98 kills per game during her final season with the Jeffs. DeMais also contributed 3.95 digs, second among her teammates, while playing in each of Amherst's 122 games this fall. With DeMais' support, the Jeffs put together a team-record 30-5 mark and reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

Wilson improved upon her 2006 NESCAC Women's Cross Country Championship performance by over 90 seconds after placing 11th last fall. She was one of four Jeff harriers to finish in the top 10 at the 2007 championship, helping Amherst secure its second-consecutive NESCAC Women's Cross Country crown. After earning All-Conference Second Team honors the past two years, Wilson's top finish garnered the senior NESCAC All-Conference First Team recognition for the first time in her career. Wilson paced Amherst this past weekend at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships, placing ninth to help her squad capture its first NCAA Women's Cross Country title.

39 Eph Honorees

2008 NESCAC Winter All-Academic Selections Announced

414 Winter Student-Athletes Receive Honors

HADLEY, Mass. - The New England Small College Athletic Conference announced its 2007-08 Winter All-Academic selections today, with 414 student-athletes that participated in a winter sport earning All-Academic recognition. To be honored, a student-athlete must have reached junior academic standing and be a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.35. A transfer student must have completed one year of study at the institution.

Of the 414 student-athletes that received Winter All-Academic accolades, a total of 151, more than one-third, had the honor bestowed upon them a year ago. 30 student-athletes on the 2007-08 Winter All-Academic squad also received NESCAC All-Conference recognition this past season, while 32 individuals earned both All-Academic and All-Sportsmanship honors.

Notable members of the Winter All-Academic team are seniors Will Bruce (Nashville, Tenn.) of Williams and Mark Rapisarda (Brooklyn, N.Y.) of Amherst. Bruce, a member of the Ephs’ Men’s Ice Hockey team, was recently honored with the Wooden Citizenship Cup, given to a collegiate and a professional athlete who has made the greatest difference in the lives of others, and is also a finalist for the 2008 Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is given annually to college hockey’s finest citizen. Rapisarda is the only member among the Winter All-Academic selections that also received All-Conference and All-Sportsmanship honors this season.

Among the Winter All-Academic members are multiple NCAA individual champions from this winter. The Tufts combination of seniors Catherine Beck (Brookline, N.H.), Kaleigh Fitzpatrick (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Katy O’Brien (North Easton, Mass.) claimed the Distance Medley Relay title at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships last weekend. Amherst junior Meaghan Stern (Albuquerque, N.M.) was part of three winning relay teams for the Jeffs at the 2008 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, and classmates Alexandra Lee (Piedmont, Calif.) and Erin Morrison (Old Greenwich, Conn.) also helped in the relay victories as Amherst finished second at the NCAA meet. Tufts senior diver Kendall Swett (Akron, Ohio) was a dual winner at the NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, winning the 1-meter and 3-meter events.

57 Eph Honorees  

2008 NESCAC Spring All-Academic Selections Announced

Record 464 Spring Student-Athletes Receive Honors

HADLEY, Mass. - The New England Small College Athletic Conference announced its 2008 Spring All-Academic selections today, with a record 464 student-athletes that participated in a spring sport earning All-Academic recognition. To be honored, a student-athlete must have reached junior academic standing and be a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.35. A transfer student must have completed one year of study at the institution.

Of the 464 student-athletes that received Spring All-Academic accolades, 152 had the honor bestowed upon them a year ago. 65 student-athletes on the 2008 Spring All-Academic squad also received NESCAC All-Conference recognition this past season, while 44 individuals earned both All-Academic and All-Sportsmanship honors.

10 individuals garnered All-Conference, All-Sportsmanship, and All-Academic this spring. The honorees were Amherst seniors Neal Allar (Floyds Knobs, Ind.) and Mike Mintz (New York, N.Y.), Bowdoin senior Amy Ahearn (Wenham, Mass.), Colby senior Anna King (Greenland, N.H.), Middlebury senior Ceara Danaher (West Hartford, Conn.), Tufts’ trio of senior Catherine Beck (Brookline, N.H.) and juniors Chrissie Attura (Yarmouth, Maine) and Samantha Kuhles (Somerville, N.J.), Wesleyan senior Sam Grover (Williston, Vt.), and Williams junior Elizabeth Burns.

The Spring All-Academic team also included student-athletes that won an NCAA championship this spring. Juniors Jacob Donnelly (Suffield, Conn.) and William Tucker (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) were a part of a Trinity baseball squad that went a remarkable 45-1 and claimed the 2008 NCAA Baseball Championship, the first NCAA title for the Bantams. Senior Katrina Ferrara (Skillman, N.J.) and juniors Cary Gibson (Augusta, Ga.) and Annie Hancock (Syracuse, N.Y.) helped the remarkable Williams women’s tennis team win the 2008 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship, and Gibson finished as the runner-up in the NCAA Singles Championship. Amherst senior Alicia Menezes (Staten Island, N.Y.) teamed up with sophomore Brittany Berckes to win a second-consecutive NCAA Doubles Championship this spring.

58 Eph Honorees