Sports News: Spring 2002

Thursday, June 20, 2002

WOLFSBERGER, BOYLE & SHERTZER NAMED VERIZON ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Senior Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic, PA/Riverside HS) has been named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-American College Division Women's Track & Field/Cross Country First Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Thursday. Seniors Erin Boyle (Philadelphia, PA/Nazareth Academy HS) and Emily Shertzer (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin HS) earned spots on the Academic All-America Second Team.

To be eligible for Verizon Academic All-America® honors, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve. The College Division is made up of all the NCAA Division II and III Schools in the nation as well as all NAIA schools. Student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools are named to the University Division Teams. Wolfsberger, Boyle and Shertzer also made the Verizon Academic All-District II Team back in May. District II is made up of schools from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

This year marks the 50th year of the Academic All-America program, as the inaugural team was announced on December 6, 1952. Since that time, more than 12,000 students have been named Academic All-America team members at colleges and universities at all levels for every recognized NCAA sport. The 22 members of the original team, which included football players only, will be honored with a series of events throughout the current academic year. The program's popularity resulted in a significant expansion for the current academic year, as 816 student-athletes --- a 19 percent increase over the previous highest number -- will be selected to 12 different Academic All-America teams during the 2001-02 academic season.

2001-02 is also the first year that CoSIDA and Verizon have selected an individual women's track & field/cross country team. The sports had been part of the Fall/Winter and Spring At-Large programs in the past.

Wolfsberger, who was named the Moravian Senior Female Athlete Award winner in May, is one of the most prolific student-athletes in Moravian history. She is a three time MAC Cross Country Champion, a two-time NCAA Division III Mideast Region Champion and a three-time All-American in cross country, twice finishing as the runner-up at the national championships. On the track, Wolfsberger won the 2001 NCAA Division III National Championship in the 1,500 meters at the indoor meet, and she has been an All-American seven times in her career, including a runner-up finish in the outdoor 1,500 meters in 2002. Wolfsberger< won 18 MAC individual and relay championships over four years, and she was named the Most Outstanding Performer four times, twice indoors and twice outdoors. Wolfsberger was named to the MAC All-Academic Team nine times in her career, and she is a three-time Verizon First Team Academic All-American.

Boyle finished third at Middle Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championships last fall, and she was fifth at NCAA Division III Mideast Regional and 83rd at NCAA National Championships, where the Moravian team placed third. Boyle was a MAC Indoor Champion in distance medley relay in conference record time, and she was an All-American in distance medley relay with an eighth place finish at the national championships. Boyle was the MAC Runner-up in 1,500 meters and sixth in 800 meters at 2002 MAC Outdoor Championships. She is a two-time All-American in track & field and has won two MAC Individual T&F Championships. Boyle has competed at NCAA Championships six times (three in cross country and three in track & field), and she has been named to the MAC All-Academic team nine times.

Shertzer placed second at MAC Cross Country Championships, and she was third at NCAA Division III Mideast Regional and 27th at NCAA Championships. Shertzer won the 2002 Indoor MAC Championships in 5,000 meters and distance medley relay, and she captured the 2002 MAC Outdoor Championships in 10,000 meters (the fourth title of her career in the event) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Shertzer is a two-time All-American in cross country, and she is also a two-time All-American in track & field after a top eight finish in the inaugural 3,000-meter steeplechase this past spring. She has won 16 MAC Individual track & field titles, and the team has won 12 MAC titles (four each in cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field). Shertzer, who was a MAC All-Academic Team honoree nine times, has been invited to train for 2004 Olympics in military pentathlon (cross country, equestrian, swimming, shooting & fencing).

Wolfsberger, Boyle and Shertzer are now the 23rd, 24th and 25th Verizon Academic All-Americans in Moravian history and the 18th, 19th and 20th in the last nine years.