The Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation has announced the Winter Senior Scholar Athletes for 2008. The MASCAC Awards Committee bases selection on academic record (50%) and athletic prowess (50%). The athlete must be a senior with a minimun GPA of 3.2 who competed in a 2008 fall sport.
| M. Basketball |
Matt Sosna |
Widener |
Civil Engineering |
3.94 |
Stratford, NJ |
Sterling |
| W. Basketball |
LeighAnn Burke |
DeSales |
Mathematics/Secondary Ed. |
3.88 |
Philadelphia, PA |
Archbishop Ryan |
| M. Indoor Track |
Patrick Roach |
Messiah |
Politics |
3.81 |
Boiling Spring, PA |
Boiling Springs |
| W. Indoor Track |
Tiffany Kulp |
Elizabethtown |
Biochemistry |
3.53 |
Perkasie, PA |
Pennridge |
| M. Swimming |
Shawn McDevitt |
Widener |
Accounting |
3.33 |
Drexel Hill, PA |
Monsignor Bonner |
| W. Swimming |
Gretchen Geiger |
Elizabethtown |
Biology |
3.44 |
Pilesgrove, NJ |
Woodstown |
The MASCAC Awards Committee bases selection on academic record (50%) and athletic prowess (50%).
Annville, PA (March 23, 2009) – Senior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) took home yet another award last week as she was named the 2008-09 MASCAC Women’s Basketball Winter Scholar Athlete as announced by the conference office.
The conference recognizes a senior student-athlete among each sport sponsored by the MASCAC each season. To be nominated you must have at least a 3.20 GPA or higher. Points are awarded to each nominee based on their cumulative GPA, their athletics excellence, and their involvement within the community. The nominee with the most points is named the scholar-athlete. Burke currently carries a 3.88 GPA and has been named a First-Team All-American by both D3hoops.com and the WBCA.
This honor is added to a long list of honors this season for Burke including being named the Freedom Conference Player of the Year, a First-Team All-American by D3hoops.com and the WBCA, being named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSida Second-Team All-American, and a Jostens Trophy Finalist for the second straight year,
She finished her career averaging 20.4 points per game this season and led the team with 113 assists and 77 steals. Burke broke her own school-record with 81 three-pointers and shot 44.6 percent from the field for the year. In addition, Burke had a school-record 46 points with another school-record 10 three-pointer in a late season win over Delaware Valley College.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College seniors Tiffany Kulp (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) and Gretchen Geiger (Pilesgrove, NJ/Woodstown) have been named Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation (MASCAC) Senior Scholar-Athletes in women's indoor track and field and women's swimming, respectively, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Kulp is a six-time gold medalist at the MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, winning the 1,500 meters in 2006, the 800 meters in 2007 and 2008, the mile run in 2008 and 2009, and the 4x800-meter relay in 2009. She qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in the mile run in 2009, finishing 10th overall.
She is president of the Gamma Sigma Espilon chemistry honor society, and is secretary of the Chemistry Club. Kulp is also a student lab assistant and tutor in the chemistry department, and carried a 3.53 cumulative grade-point average in biochemistry.
Geiger won 11 career medals at the MAC Swimming Championships, including gold medals in the 400 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke at the 2009 championships to earn the David B. Eavenson Award as the meet's outstanding swimmer.
She has interned at the Baltimore Aquarium working with dolphins and other marine mammals, and also interned at the Cape May (N.J.) County Zoo. A biology major with a 3.44 cumulative grade-point average, Geiger intends to attend graduate school to pursue a master's degree in marine biology.
Kulp and Geiger will be honored along with the conference's other Scholar-Athlete Award winners at the annual awards luncheon to be held Tuesday, May 5 at Messiah College.
The MASCAC recognizes Scholar-Athletes in each of 22 sports sponsored by the conference, with the conference Awards Committee giving equal consideration to academic record and athletic prowess.
Widener’s Matt Sosna (Stratford, NJ) was tabbed the Middle Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete and fellow senior Shawn McDevitt (Drexel Hill, PA) earned the same honor for men’s swimming.
This is the latest in a series of awards for Sosna, who was named second team CoSIDA Academic All-America. He is the 44th Academic All-America in school history, coming on the heels of him being tabbed first team CoSIDA Academic All-District the last two years and a member of the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team last year.
Sosna this year also was named the Small College Player of the Year by the Boys’ Basketball Club of South Jersey and second team All-Commonwealth Conference. He helped Widener (23-6, 10-2 CC) win a third straight conference title and compete in the NCAA Tournament a fourth straight year.
The 6-3 center ended seventh in the league with 13.8 points per game, first with a .599 shooting percentage, fifth with 6.9 rebounds per contest, fifth with a .783 free throw percentage and second with a .444 three-point percentage. A two-year starter, he scored in double figures 22 times this season and notched three double-doubles.
Sosna owns a 3.938 GPA in Civil Engineering. He has recorded a 4.0 GPA each of the last three semesters and has been on the Dean’s List all seven semesters to this point.
McDevitt, like Sosna, is a three-time member of the MAC Honor Roll. He was named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team the previous two years and helped the Pride win four straight MAC titles.
Owner of the school record in the 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard freestyle relay, McDevitt is a six-time gold medalist at the MAC Championships. He has won a silver medal eight times, a bronze four times and also qualified for the ECAC Championships.
McDevitt sports a 3.331 GPA in Accounting. He made the Dean’s List in the fall of 2005 and the summer of 2007.
This brings the total of Widener’s scholar-athletes this academic year to three, joining senior Meghan Fitzsimmons (Lancaster, NY) from volleyball. They will receive their awards at the annual MAC Administration Luncheon on Tuesday, May 5. It will take place at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.