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Eastern College Athletic Conference Athletes Score on the Field and Off
Cincinnati, OH,
January 16, 2004 – The ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Awards, sponsored by Robbins Sports Surfaces, the Cincinnati-based sports surfaces company, honors the outstanding academic and athletics achievements of student-athletes representing ECAC schools in Divisions I, II and III. One male and one female athlete from each division are selected by three committees comprised of athletics administrators. Votes are based on extraordinary achievements in academics, athletics and community service. The honorees will be presented with the ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Jostens during the ECAC Fall Convention Honors Dinner presented by Jostens on September 30. Lafayette College’s Herb Kennedy and Meghan Ramsey have been selected as the 2003 ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award winners for Division I and Jennifer Walker of Bentley College and Ryan Weathersof West Chester University of Pennsylvania have been selected the 2003 ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athletes for Division II. Kennedy was a member of the football, and indoor and outdoor track and field teams. A chemistry major, Kennedy posted a 3.20 grade-point average and graduated this past May. He earned Verizon Division II Academic All-America honors in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and was named the Maroon Club Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2002. Kennedy received the Dean of Studies Scholar-Athlete Award in 2002 and was also honored with the Dean of Studies Citizen Athlete award in 2003. His other academic honors include earning a spot on the Division I-AA Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team; being named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll each semester at Lafayette as well as being named a Lafayette Trustee Scholar and Dana Scholar. Kennedy was a four-year starter and three-year letterwinner at defensive back for Lafayette. In 2002, he led the team in interceptions, pass break-ups and forced fumbles. On the track, Kenned anchored Lafayette’s 4x400-meter relay team that captured the 2003 Patriot League Indoor Championship and finished third in the 55-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash, earning all-Patriot League honors for the third straight year. In addition to his academic and athletics endeavors, Kennedy was an active volunteer with Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center. He also volunteered as a peer mentor with the Easton Boys & Girls Club. Ramsey is a member of the Lafayette women’s soccer team. The midfielder/defender, a member of the class of 2004, has posted a 3.92 grade-point average, majoring in neuroscience. In 2002, Ramsey received the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, which is the premier undergraduate award in the field of mathematics, science and engineering. She was also one of 60 students from a pool of more than 600 applicants chosen to participate in the Mayo Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Ramsey received the Lafayette James F. Bryant Excellence Award and was named a Verizon District II Academic All-American. A Lafayette Trustee Scholar, Ramsey has been named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll each semester at Lafayette. On the field, Ramsey earned second-team all-Patriot League honors in 2002. She has started in all 55 career games and finished with two goals and two assists in both 2001 and 2002. Ramsey is an active volunteer with Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center. She has also spent time as a volunteer soccer coach for the Easton YMCA’s youth soccer league. Ramsey was also named a team captain for the upcoming 2003 season. Walker, a field hockey player from Lyman, Maine, is a two-year starter who helped Bentley to the 2001 NCAA Division II national championship and the 2002 NCAA Division II national championship game. Walker, who will be a junior in the fall, is majoring in corporate finance and accounting. Named to the President’s List in all four of her semesters at Bentley, Walker is a two-time recipient of the team’s Falcon Club Scholar Athlete Award. She is also a member of the Bentley College Honors program, as well as a member of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II National Academic Squad. In her two seasons, the Falcons have posted a 39-6 record with two Northeast-10 Conference playoff championships. She was named to the 2002 STX/NFHCA Division II All-America second team, the womensfieldhockey.com Division II All-America first team and the all-Northeast-10 first team. Walker ranked second on the team in scoring with 20 points. Walker is a junior volunteer at Goodard Hospital in Lyman, Maine, a member of Bentley’s Student Activity Advisory Council and a tutor in the ACE lab on campus. Weathers, from Eagleville, Pennsylvania, is a member of West Chester’s swimming and diving team. A kinesiology major, Weathers recently completed his junior year. He became part of the West Chester relay teams that won the first men’s swimming national championship in school history. He was the national champion in the 200-meter freestyle relay and the 400-meter freestyle relay and earned all-America honors in the 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle relay, 400-meter freestyle relay and 800-meter freestyle relay. He also earned honorable mention all-America honors in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle. Weathers also helped the team to its fifth-straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship. He was named the team’s 2002 Outstanding Student Athlete and was the 2002 West Chester Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A four-year letterwinner, Weathers won two PSAC championships and was all-PSAC in five events while leading West Chester to four relay titles at the PSAC Championships. Weathers was a Verizon Spring At-Large Academic All-America second-team selection and was named to the Verizon District II first team. A PSAC Winter Top 10 selection, Weathers is a five-time West Chester Athletics Director’s Academic Honor Roll selection and a three-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete. Heather Downey of the State University of New York at New Paltz and Todd Matukaitis of College Misericordia have been named the 2003 ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athletes for Division III. Downey, a field hockey player from Burnt Hills-Balston Lake, New York, graduated with a degree in Psychology with a concentration in industrial and organizational psychology. Throughout her career, Downey has received numerous academic honors, including being listed in Who’s Who Among American Scholars and Who’s Who Among Students at American Colleges and Universities. A member of the Psi Chi National Honor Society for Psychology, Downey served as the organization’s president. She was also a two-time participant in the Student Research Symposium. Downey received the State University of New York’s system-wide Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence in 2003 and was an all-New Paltz Scholar-Athlete all four years. She was also a four-time all-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and was named to the Commissioner’s Scholar-Athlete List in 2001, 2002 and 2003. A member of the dean’s list every semester since enrollment, Downey was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Academic Squad and New Paltz All-Academic Squad in 2002 and is a member of the Athletics Honor Society. A two-time captain of the field hockey team, Downey was named to the all-SUNYAC second team in 2002. She was the recipient of New Paltz’s Kenneth F. Burda Sportsmanship Award in 2001 and represented New Paltz at the NCAA National Leadership Conference in 2002. Downey was active as a member of the Intercollegiate Athletic Budget Committee, a student-athlete mentor, a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and as a volunteer at the Oasis Crisis/Non-Crisis Phone and Walk-in Center. Matukaitis, a cross country and track athlete from Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, will graduate from the college’s five-year entry level master’s degree program next spring. He was awarded the Silliman Endowment and has been on the Dean’s List for eight semesters at Misericorida. He was named the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2002-03 and has been on the all-Academic team in each of the past four years. Matukaitis was a first-team all-PAC selection in 2001 and 2002 and was the MVP of the cross country team in 1999. He owns six of the school’s top 25 cross country times and two school records in indoor and outdoor track and field. He also served as team captain from 2001 to 2003. Outside of his academic and athletics pursuits, Matukaitis was a member of the Physical Therapy Club, the Varsity M Club and Food Committee. He also did volunteer work with home health therapists in his hometown. Matukaitis served as a peer tutor and was a learning volunteer work at the Meadows Nursing Home. Former ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award Winners 2003 Herb Kennedy - Lafayette College - Division I Meghan Ramsey - Lafayette College - Division I Jennifer Walker - Bentley College - Division II Ryan Weathers- West Chester University - Division II Heather Downey- SUNY New Paltz - Division III Todd Matukaitis - Widener University - Division III 2002 Lindsay Campbell - Princeton University - Division I Gregory Strohman - Seton Hall University - Division I Megan Straehle- West Chester University - Division II Robert Montgomery - Massachusetts-Lowell - Division II Meredith Eisenhut - St. Lawrence University - Division III T.J. Hess - Weidner University - Division III 2001 Julia Beaver - Princeton University - Division I Craig Perry - Princeton University - Division I Kim Rochon - West Chester University - Division II Greg Wolyniec - Bryant College - Division II Mark DeBiasio - Salve Regina - Division III Kristen Lane - Widener University - Division III 2000 Katrina de Boer – Georgetown University – Division I Robert Osipower – Lafayette College – Division I Nicole La Rocque – The College of St. Rose – Division II Matthew Johnson – Merrimack College – Division II Catherine L’Armand – Widener University – Division III David Held – Norwich University – Division III 1999 Melanie Morin Wehrwein – University of New Hampshire - Division I Richard Moller – Towson University - Division I Conrad Quarles – West Chester University – Division II Lauren Wiggins – Sacred Heart University – Division II Maureen McGranaghan – Carnegie Mellon University – Division III Brandon Richards – Widener University – Division III 1998 Peggy Boutilier - University of Virginia - Division I Thorodd Bakken – University of Vermont - Division I Krista Kandere – The College of St. Rose – Division II Steven McAuliffe – Merrimack College – Division II Tanya Klebe - University of Rochester – Division III Robert Gray – Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Division III 1997 Vera Schoenfeld – Boston University – Division I Michael Fisher – University of Virginia – Division I Ilze Auzina – The College of St. Rose – Division II Eric Larson – University of New Haven – Division II Sunny Montas – College of New Jersey – Division III Douglas Fullerton – Grove City College – Division III 1996 Astri Sysse – University of Vermont – Division I Ronald Mateo – Cornell University – Division I Jeff Turnage – Indiana University (Pennsylvania) – Division II Omotola Hope – City College of New York – Division III Alic Scott – Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute - Division III 1995 Darren Eales – Brown University – Division I Rebecca Lobo - University of Connecticut - Division I Dina Ressler – Bentley College – Division II Tim Barshinger – Kutztown University - Division II Loretta Zahn – Kean University – Division III Aaron Berthiaume – Skidmore College – Division III 1994 Thomas D. Burns – University of Virginia – Division I Rebecca Lobo – University of Connecticut – Division I Kelly Jewett – Franklin Pierce College – Division II Paul Reed - Franklin Pierce College - Division II Christina Paige – Mary Washington College – Division III Kye M. Gilder – United States Coast Guard Academy – Division III Scholar Athlete Info courtesy of www.ecac.org
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Tommy Ellison
Marketing Director
Robbins Sports Surfaces
(513) 871-8988
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