July 10, 2006
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - When the Patriot League released its Track and Field Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll lists on Monday afternoon, 37 Lafayette student-athletes were honored for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
A pair of seniors headlined each group, punctuating their Lafayette academic careers with 4.0 grade-point averages in the spring. Biochemistry major Hannah Tuson was one of 13 women across the Patriot League to achieve the flawless average. Tuson captained the women's cross country team in the fall, while also running distance events in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. On the men's side, Jonathan Rowe completed his second straight 4.0 semester. The Computer Science major and Mathematics minor took second at the 2005-06 Indoor Patriot League Championships in the men's weight throw. He was one of six men around the league with a perfect 4.0.
Two senior women that were instrumental in the team's success during the outdoor season were also lauded by the league. The Lafayette women's third-place finish at the outdoor championships was the highest the ladies have climbed since 1996. Seniors Deborah Fink and Kate Evangelista were a big part of that. Fink took second in the 400m hurdles, while managing a 3.85 GPA in Neuroscience. The NCAA Regional and ECAC qualifier also took third in the 400m dash. Fink and Evangelista paced each other in the 400m, as Evangelista grabbed silver. Evangelista, who also took second in the event at the Indoor Patriot League Championships, managed a 3.50 GPA in Economics and Business. Fellow senior Daria Szkwarko registered a 3.82 GPA as a Neuroscience major, while she scored with a fifth-place finish in the pole vault at the outdoor league championships.
2006 Patriot League Outdoor triple jump champion, sophomore Emily Cholak, claimed a 3.20 GPA in Biology. The ECAC qualifier also finished third in the long jump. Classmate Kristen Kalinowski (International Affairs) matched Cholak's mark in the classroom while tying for second in the outdoor high jump event. Also an ECAC qualifier, she finished fifth in the heptathlon. Top distance runner Katie Schultes, who finished the year with a trio of top three finishes in the 3000m and 5000m spanning the indoor and outdoor seasons at the league championships, posted a 3.75 GPA in Biology.
Juniors Vanessa Youngs and Lori Cooper, an ECAC qualifier, also made the list. Youngs (3.35 GPA), an Anthropology and Sociology major, took third and fourth in the 200m and 100m outdoor events, respectively at the Patriot League Championships. Also at the league meet, Cooper finished sixth in the javelin. In the same semester, Cooper managed a 3.90 GPA in Neuroscience.
Also making the list on the women's side were sophomore Andrea Cerbie (Art; 3.35), junior Meredith Cohen (English and French; 3.56), sophomore Megan Fulmer (Biology; 3.25), sophomore Pamela Glennon (Biology; 3.75), freshman Sue Izevbigie (Government and Law; 3.75), freshman Meghan Kelly (Civil Engineering; 3.32), junior Amanda Lalley (International Affairs; 3.75), sophomore Autumn Karwiel (Biology; 3.25), junior Tobie Langsam (Psychology; 3.50), sophomore Mary Rollyson (Biology; 3.70), senior Elizabeth Rybas (International Affairs; 3.43), junior Danielle Sliva (Neuroscience; 3.60) and sophomore Kisha Thomas (Music; 3.23).
Several decorated student-athletes on the men's side earned mention on the honor roll as well. In addition to Rowe, senior and IC4A qualifier Steve Malloy posted a 3.46 GPA as an Economics and Business major. Competing in the javelin, Malloy took fifth at the Outdoor Patriot League Championships and 16th at Penn Relays. Fellow seniors Nick Baldwin and Nick Birosik made the list, while both followed up a grueling cross country season with success on the track. Baldwin, the team's top steeplechase runner, finished the spring with a 3.82 GPA in Mechanical Engineering. Birosik, who took 10th in the 10,000m event at the outdoor league championships, registered a 3.28 GPA in Chemical Engineering.
Rounding out the senior class are Mechanical Engineering major Greg Swiatocha (3.7 GPA) and Neuroscience major Jeff Sejour (3.32 GPA). Sejour took third in the triple jump at the indoor championships to follow-up his 2005 outdoor title in the same event.
Sophomore Tom Blenk managed a 3.75 GPA in Electrical and Computer Engineering, while placing second at the indoor championships in the 55m hurdles.
The Patriot League honored eight other notable student-athletes on the men's side including junior John Paul Botti (Geology and Economics; 3.34), sophomore Aaron Buchman (Civil Engineering; 3.88), junior Adam Callaghan (Engineering; 3.92), junior Timothy Creelman (Mechanical Engineering; 3.48); sophomore Kevin Cunningham (Biology; 3.42), junior Daniel Kucz (Civil Engineering; 3.80), freshman Kyle Rolek (Biology; 3.42) and junior Jeff Silvan (Mechanical Engineering; 3.60).
To be eligible for the Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must earn a 3.20 grade-point average in the spring semester and be awarded a varsity letter in one of the Patriot League's six winter or 10 spring championship sports.
A total of 971 student-athletes were named to the Patriot League's Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll, which includes the sports of men and women's basketball, men and women's swimming and diving, men and women's indoor track and field, baseball, golf, men and women's lacrosse, rowing, men and women's outdoor track and field, softball and men and women's tennis.
