Sports News: Winter 2000-01

Friday, December 8, 2000

24 GREYHOUNDS NAMED TO MAC FALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

ANNVILLE, PA --- A total of 24 fall sport student-athletes from Moravian College have been named to the Middle Atlantic Corporation Fall 2000 All-Academic Team led by eight student-athletes from the women's cross country team which finished fifth in the nation.

To be eligible for the MAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve, a sophomore, junior or senior and maintain a 3.4 grade-point average.

In addition to the eight selections from the women's cross country team, the field hockey, football and men's soccer teams each had three honorees while two members of the women's volleyball, women's tennis and men's cross country teams were selected.  One student-athlete from the women's soccer team was also honored.

Juniors Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic/Riverside HS) and Emily Shertzer (Hummelstown/Lower Dauphin HS), who were All-Americans and helped the women's cross country squad to the fifth place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships, the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional title and the team's eighth straight MAC Championship, led the eight honorees from the women's cross country team.  Wolfsberger was also the MAC and Mideast Region Runner of the Year.  Also honored were juniors Tiffany Catalino (Bethlehem/ Freedom HS), Jennifer Boberg (Lansford/Panther Valley HS), Erin Boyle (Philadelphia/Nazareth Academy) and Amanda Samok (Palmerton/Palmerton HS) and sophomores Jennifer Wagner (Riegelsville/Wilson HS) and Gina Lacombe (Andover, CT/Rham HS).  Boyle was an All-MAC and All-Region runner and competed in the national championships while Wagner was a All-MAC runner and also completed at nationals.

 The Moravian field hockey team posted a two-match improvement over the 1999 season with a 5-14 record this season.  Seniors forward Chelsea Roberts (Philadelphia/St. Basil Academy) and defender Melissa Garrison (Phillipsburg, NJ/Belvidere HS) and junior forward Elissa Gerstel (Warminster/William Tennent HS) earned spots on the All-Academic squad.  Gerstel was a Commonwealth Second Team All-Star and led Moravian with 11 goals this fall.

The Greyhound football squad also posted an improvement this season, going 6-4 after back-to-back losing seasons.  Junior reserve wide receiver Keith Moore (Perkasie/Pennridge HS) and sophomores reserve defensive back Eric Paul (Reading/Reading Central Catholic HS) and starting defensive end Tom Blackledge (Sellersville/Pennridge HS) were on the MAC All-Academic Team.  Blackledge was also named to the Verizon Academic All-District Team this fall.

Moravian's men's soccer team made the MAC playoffs for the first time since 1991 this fall and posted a 9-11 overall record.  Junior midfielders Scott Heydt (Boyertown/Boyertown HS) and Evan Weller (Sinking Spring/Wilson West Lawn HS) and junior defender Doug Becker (Fleetwood/Fleetwood HS) were on the MAC All-Academic team for the Greyhounds.

The women's volleyball team had its fifth straight 20-win season in 2000 with its fifth consecutive trip to the Commonwealth Playoffs.  Anchoring the team of 12 student-athletes, which had eight freshmen, were senior middle hitter Sara Young (Tunkhannock/Tunkhannock HS) and junior outside hitter Krystol Kessack (Bethlehem/Liberty HS), who were both named to the MAC All-Academic Team.  Young, a Commonwealth Second Team All-Star, was also named to the Verizon Academic All-District II Second Team.

Sophomore Jennifer Genevese (Whitehall/Whitehall HS) and senior Courtney Rice (Nazareth/Nazareth HS), both members of the MAC All-Academic Team, led the women's tennis team to its fourth MAC Championship in five years this fall.  Genevese also made the MAC Doubles semifinals before being knocked out of the tournament this season.

Senior Damon Rutherford (Reading/Exeter HS) and junior Chris Colley (Easton/Easton HS) represented the men's cross country team on the MAC All-Academic squad this fall.  The duo helped the Greyhounds finish fourth at the MAC Championships and seventh in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional.

Sophomore defender Allison Kranchalk (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro HS) helped the Greyhound women's soccer team to a school record 15 wins this season and the squad's first-ever appearance in the post-season as the team was 15-4 overall and a Commonwealth Conference semifinalist.