Sports News: Fall 1999

November 19, 1999

37 GREYHOUNDS NAMED TO MAC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

ANNVILLE, PA --- Moravian College has had 37 of its fall student-athletes named to the Middle Atlantic Conference Academic Honor Rolls announced Thursday.

To be eligible for Academic Honor Roll accolades, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore, maintain a 3.20 or higher grade point average and be a starter or significant reserve on a fall athletic team.

The football team led Moravian’s eight fall sports with nine players named to the MAC Academic Honor Roll followed by the women’s cross country squad with seven honorees. The field hockey team was honored with six selections while the women’s volleyball team had five selections. Rounding out the Moravian fall sports were the women’s tennis team with four selections, men’s soccer squad with three honorees, men’s cross country with two members and one selection from the women’s soccer team.

Three of Moravian’s 11 seniors on the football team made the MAC Academic Honor Roll including quarterback Rob Petrosky (North Catasauqua/Catasauqua HS), strong safety Jason Goldan (Neshanic, NJ/Hillsborough HS) and cornerback Gordy Frack (Coopersburg/Southern Lehigh HS). Petrosky completed 119 of 263 passes for 1,530 yards and 16 touchdowns. Rhinehart, a second team MAC All-Star this fall, had 91 tackles with 62 solo stops, 12 tackles for loss and tied for the team high with three interceptions. Moravian finished the 1999 season with a 2-8 record.

Also earning spots on the MAC Academic Honor Roll from the Greyhound football team were juniors linebacker Phil Black (Easton/Easton HS), wide receiver Scott Farkas (Nazareth/Bethlehem Catholic HS) and defensive lineman Dan Kowalchuk (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg HS) and sophomores fullback Jerod Dobry (Pottstown/St. Pius X HS), linebacker Jake Hallman (Perkasie/ Upper Perkiomen HS) and wide receiver Keith Moore (Perkasie/Pennridge HS).

Black had 61 tackles in six games before being sideline with a knee injury while Farkas grabbed seven passes for 86 yards. Kowalchuk made 28 tackles in his first season for Moravian with five tackles for loss and three sacks. Dobry, who also played on special teams, carried the ball twice for 19 yards and one kickoff return for seven yards. Hallman made 18 tackles for the Greyhounds this fall with two tackles for loss and one sack while Moore caught four passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

Five sophomores from the women’s cross country team that will run at the NCAA Division III National Championships this weekend for the seventh straight year earned a spot on the MAC Academic Honor Roll. Leading the pack are Emily Shertzer (Hummelstown/Lower Dauphin HS) and Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic/Riverside HS). The duo has combined for 16 top ten finishes this season and three first place finishes. Wolfsberger won the MAC Championship. Joining the tandem on the MAC Academic Honor Roll were Jennifer Boberg (Lansford/Panther Valley HS), Erin Boyle (Philadelphia/Nazareth Academy HS) and Tiffany Catalino (Bethlehem/Freedom HS).

Juniors Kate Westermann (Milford, CT/Lauralton Hall HS) and Leah Williams (Andrea/ Tamaqua HS) were also named to the MAC Academic Honor Roll from the Moravian women’s cross country team.

Leading the MAC Academic Honor Roll selections from the field hockey team were seniors Nicole Drey (Bethlehem/Northampton HS) and Colleen Walsh (Northampton/Northampton HS). Drey, a midfielder, scored one goal and was named to the MAC Commonwealth Conference All-Star Second Team as a link while Walsh played defense for Moravian.

The four other field hockey players on the MAC Academic Honor Roll included juniors forward Brooke Dancho (Bethlehem/Freedom HS), defender Melissa Garrison (Phillipsburg, NJ/Belvidere HS) and forward Chelsea Roberts (Philadelphia/St. Basil HS) and sophomore midfielder Elissa Gerstel (Warminster/William Tennent HS). Dancho led Moravian’s team, which finished the season at 3-14, with 13 points on five goals and three assists. Garrison helped Moravian post a 1.96 goals against average while Roberts scored three goals on the year. Gerstel was the Lady Greyhounds leading goal scorer with six goals for 12 points.

Senior outside hitter Amy Sandt (Allentown/William Allen HS), the 1999 MAC Commonwealth Conference Most Valuable Player of the Year, leads the five women’s volleyball players on the MAC Academic Honor Roll. Sandt set the school record for the Moravian records for career kills with 1,492 and career digs with 1,665.

Joining Sandt on the MAC Academic Honor Roll were juniors defensive specialist Natalie Balaziuk (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic HS), outside hitter Lisa Ann Herpok (Hamden, CT/Sacred Heart Academy) and middle hitter Sara Young (Tunkhannock/Tunkhannock HS) and sophomore outside hitter Krystol Kessack (Bethlehem/Liberty HS). Balaziuk had 66 service aces and 270 digs while Herpok had 14 kills and 12 digs in limited action. Young led Moravian with 79 blocks and had 257 kills. Kessack added 112 kills and 259 digs this season for the 26-8 Lady Greyhounds that earned the schools third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Moravian’s women’s tennis team, which had four members of the MAC Academic Honor Roll, posted a 17-1 record and played in the MAC Championship game for the fourth straight year. Seniors Lyn Ramsey (Perkasie/Pennridge HS) and Liz Gulick (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic HS) were named to the squad as were junior Courtney Rice (Nazareth/Nazareth HS) and sophomore Lacey Leverberg (East Stroudsburg/Stroudsburg HS). Ramsey and Rice combined for a 13-4 doubles record while Leverberg had a 15-2 singles mark and a 10-6 doubles slate.

The Greyhound men’s soccer team had three honorees led by senior goalie Ryan Shick (Jamison/Central Bucks East HS). Shick had a 2.15 goals against average and three shutouts this season. Joining Shick were sophomores sweeper Scott Heydt (Boyertown/Boyertown HS) and midfielder Evan Weller (Sinking Spring/Wilson West Lawn HS). Heydt had two assists while Weller had three assists for the 7-11-1 Greyhounds.

The men’s cross country squad selections were senior Tim Pfluger (Slatington/Northern Lehigh HS) and junior Damon Rutherford (Reading/Exeter HS). Pfluger placed 35th at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional last weekend to earn All-Region honors. Rutherford was 50th at the regional race. The Greyhounds placed fourth at the MAC Championships this season.

Rounding out the Moravian selections to the MAC Academic Honor Roll was senior midfielder Jen Polaha (Seattle, WA/Holy Name ({PA} HS) from the women’s soccer team. Polaha had two assists this season to finish her career with 11 goals and 10 assists.