Monday, June 15, 2009

53 MORAVIAN STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED TO LANDMARK CONFERENCE SPRING ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

MADISON, N.J. --- The Landmark Conference has recognized 400 student-athletes including 53 from Moravian College by selecting them for the 2009 Spring Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll. The honorees were selected from all eight Landmark Conference institutions.

The Landmark Academic Honor Roll recognizes all spring student athletes of sophomore standing or older with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. The student-athletes must complete the spring season in good standing with their team. All eight Landmark Conference institutions placed at least 20athletes on the Academic Honor Roll and all eight winter Landmark sports were represented on the team.

The Landmark Spring All-Academic Team, which features two male and two female student-athletes from each Landmark institution will be released later this spring.  Also still to be released are senior scholar athletes from the winter and spring season in which one standout senior is selected from each sport.

The Landmark Conference concluded its second year of competition with six student-athletes earning All-America status at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships. The Landmark sent 11 teams to NCAA Tournament play in the 2008-09 academic year, and also qualified individual competitors for the NCAA Championships in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s swimming & diving and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field. In addition, four Landmark student-athletes have been chosen as Academic All-Americans in the 2008-09 year.

Moravian had student-athletes selected from all eight of its spring teams that compete in the conference with the women’s track and field team leading the way with 16 honorees.  The men’s track and field program had nine student-athletes earn Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll accolades while the baseball and softball teams each had seven student-athletes honored. The men’s lacrosse had five players make the honor roll while the women’s tennis program had four honorees. The women’s lacrosse team had three student-athletes honored while the men’s tennis squad had two student-athletes make the honor roll as well.

Leading the honorees for the women’s track and field team were juniors Jessica Posimo (Philadelphia, PA/St. Basil Academy), Rachel Riggs (Gettysburg, PA/Gettysburg HS), Flora Robertson (Hawley, PA/East Stroudsburg North HS) and Rachel Beck (Churchville, PA/Council Rock South HS), who all led the Greyhounds to their second straight Landmark Conference and ECAC Division III Outdoor Championships.  Posimo and Beck also competed at the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championships, earning All-American honors in the 4x100-meter relay.

Also making the Honor Roll were seniors Stephanie Miller (Easton, PA/Easton HS), Kelly Williams (Tafton, PA/Wallenpaupack HS), Naomie Kachel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin HS) and Christine Kihm (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown HS), juniors Katelyn Chando (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) and Aliina Ross (Paoli, PA/Conestoga HS) and sophomores Mallory Goggins (Wilmington, DE/Wilmington Friends HS), Mary King (Paramus, NJ/Paramus HS), Tara Chiarella (Hallstead, PA/Montrose Area HS), Molly DuVall (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township HS), Alexandra Lopez (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan HS) and Kaleen Holden (Scranton, PA/Bishop Hannan HS).

Graduate student Nathaniel Tussey (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown Area HS) and senior Robert Shaffer (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville HS) lead the honorees for the Men’s Track and Field team, with both competing in the 20098 ECAC Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the Greyhounds won their second straight ECAC and Landmark Conference Championships.  Tussey, who was the Most Outstanding Athlete at the ECAC meet, also competed at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. Senior Blair Magginis (Asbury, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) also competed in the ECAC Championships for the Greyhounds this year, and he was the Most Outstanding Field Athlete at the Landmark Conference Championships.

Also making the Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll were senior Timothy Murphy (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS),juniors Timothy Betz (Havertown, PA/Haverford HS) and Steven DeFazio (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville HS) and sophomores Jacob Tazik (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing HS), Jesse Miller (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg HS) and Connor Skutches (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS)

Senior Kevin Gambrino (Brick, NJ/Monsignor Donovan HS), juniors Joseph Melchionna (Marlboro, NJ/St. John Vianney HS), Philip Spence (Lafayette, NJ/Newton HS), Mike Zubia (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) and Richard Schultz (Drexel Hill, PA/The Haverford School) and sophomores Jon Baltz (Easton, PA/Easton HS) and Jacob Millen (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) were all named to the 2009 Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll. The baseball team ended the 2009 season with a 21-20 record, the program’s first winning season since 1997, and the Greyhounds made the Landmark Conference Tournament.

The softball team honorees were led by senior Erica Klepeisz (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS), who was named to the 2009 Landmark Softball All-Conference First Team. The softball team completed the year with a 35-11 overall record, a second consecutive Landmark Conference Championship and a berth in the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament, the program’s 11th appearance in the last 12 years.

Also making the honor roll from the softball team were seniors Katie Agnew (Doylestown, PA/Lansdale Catholic HS) and Deanna Mangieri (Pleasantville, NY/Byram Hills HS) and sophomores Jennifer Schmitt (Mendham, NJ/Mendham HS), Amanda Paulus (Easton, PA/Easton HS), who was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team, Maura Agnew (Doylestown, PA/Lansdale Catholic HS), Elizabeth Python (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman HS) and Megan Boyle (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield HS).

Making the academic honor roll from the men’s lacrosse team were senior Christopher Danni (Macungie, PA/Emmaus HS) and sophomores Christopher Mohapp (Jamison, PA/Central Bucks South HS),  Michael Santos (Toms River, NJ/Monsignor Donovan HS), Daniel Cress (West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson HS) and Daniel Heil (Fayetteville, NY/Jamesville DeWitt HS). The men’s lacrosse team had a 4-12 record in only its sixth year as a varsity sport at Moravian.

Leading the honorees for the women’s tennis team were seniors Dyana Swan (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville HS), who also named to the 2009 Landmark All-Conference First Team in singles and doubles, and MaryKate Kelly (Beach Haven, NJ/Southern Regional HS).  Sophomores Kerry McKinley (Sparta, NU/Pope John XXIII HS) and Elizabeth Endy (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin HS) were also named to the academic honor roll. The women’s tennis team completed its season with a 14-5 record, which included winning the Landmark Conference Championship for a second straight year.

Leading the honorees for the women’s lacrosse team are juniors Brittany Deiling (Chews Landing, NJ/Triton Regional HS) and Katie Wise (Ardsley, PA/Abington HS) along with sophomore Shannon Algeo (Spring-Ford, PA/Spring-Ford HS).  The women’s lacrosse team closed out the year with a  6-10.

Senior Keith Feinman (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield HS) and junior Ian Box (Charlestown, MA/The Rivers School HS) were both named to the Spring Academic Honor Roll from the men’s tennis team. Box was also named to the 2009 Landmark All-Conference First Team in singles and doubles. The men’s tennis team posted a 13-6 record, tying the school mark for wins in a season and competed in the Landmark Conference championship match, the program’s first-ever appearance in the conference title contest.