ESU Academic Awards History

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University sophomore Rose Mascoli has been named to the Capital One Academic All-America third team in women's track and field and cross country for the 2010-11 academic year, it was announced Thursday morning.

Mascoli (Lebanon/Lebanon Catholic), an Exercise Science major with a 4.0 grade-point average through her first four semesters, followed her All-America honor in cross country with All-America status in both the 5K and 10K in outdoor track and field.

She is just the third sophomore to be named Academic All-America in school history, joining three-time selections Katie Horst (field hockey, 1997-99) and Laura Mason (track and field/cross country, 1983-85). She is the Warriors' third Academic All-America selection in women's track and field/cross country, joining Mason and Cheryl Griffin (2001).

Mascoli is one of just four sophomores among the 45 student-athletes on this year's Academic All-America squad in the College Division, which represents all Division II, III and NAIA institutions in the country. The PSAC had three selections with Jen Harpp of Slippery Rock on the first team, Neely Spence of Shippensburg on the second team and Mascoli on the third team.

The Academic All-America citation is the latest and most significant in a long line of honors for the Warriors' distance standout. She was named to the PSAC Spring Top 10 last week and was one of a region-best three ESU athletes on the Academic All-District first team, along with seniors Trina Carito and Lynn Mayer.

Mascoli began the year with an exceptional cross country season when she became the fifth All-American in school history with a 24th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. She completed a month that saw her improve from 12th in the PSAC (23:01 on 6K course) to fourth in the region (21:54) two weeks later, followed by her All-America finish (21:52). She was in the top five at all five meets during the regular season, won individual titles at Salisbury and ESU's Nevins Invitational and set ESU course records in both events.

After competing on the swimming team for the second straight year during the winter season, Mascoli returned to the track in the spring and consistently produced head-turning and record-breaking performances that culminated with a third-place finish in the 10K and fifth-place finish in the 5K at the NCAA Championships. She is the first ESU athlete to earn multiple All-America honors at the same NCAA meet.

She set three school records within 26 days, running 9:54.65 in the 3K at Lafayette on April 2, 16:36.98 in the 5K at Bucknell on April 15 and 34:39.13 in the 10K for a runner-up finish at the prestigious Penn Relays on April 28. She also ran ESU's second-best time in the 1500 at Millersville on April 9 which she lowered at the PSAC Championships. All three records that she broke had stood for at least 25 years.

At the PSAC meet, Mascoli accounted for 18 of the Warriors' 73.5 points to bolster their fourth-place showing. She was the runner-up in the 3K (10:04.57), third in the 5K (16:59.11) and fifth in the 1500 (4:37.78), setting up her performance two weeks later at the NCAA Championships.

Mascoli lowered her 10K school record to 33:54.74 on the first night of the championships, finishing third for ESU's best-ever finish by a women's track athlete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and knocking 1:59 off the previous 10K record entering the season. She came back two days later with a time of 16:38.24 to place fifth in the 5K, just off her automatic qualifying time, and was one of five runners who were All-Americans in both the 5K and 10K.

Mascoli joins football linebacker Matt Freed to give ESU two Academic All-Americans during the 2010-11 academic year. This marks the third straight year that the Warriors have had multiple Academic All-Americans, the longest stretch in school history. ESU has had 22 student-athletes combine for a total of 30 Academic All-America awards.