PSAC release

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University junior cross country runner Rose Mascoli has been named to the PSAC Top 10 for athletic and academic achievement for the Fall 2011 sports season, the conference announced Friday.

Mascoli (Lebanon/Lebanon Catholic), an Exercise Science major with a 3.98 cumulative grade-point average, had a standout cross country season for the Warriors to earn her second straight nod on the PSAC Top 10 list, which is selected by the conference's sports information directors.

Mascoli was previously selected for outdoor track and field last spring, when she earned All-America status in the 5000m and 10,000m at the NCAA Championships. She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-America team for cross country and track and field last year, and was one of four sophomores among the 45 recipients.

This fall, Mascoli won the first four meets of the season, topping a total of 609 competitors at Fordham, Monmouth, Salisbury and Slippery Rock. She was All-PSAC and All-Region for the second straight year, placing fifth in the PSAC and eighth in the Atlantic Region, and set ESU course records at Salisbury and Lock Haven.

Mascoli is competing in indoor track and field for the first time this year after spending the last two winters on the ESU swimming team. She has already approached the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time in the 5K.

She is a three-time All-American, with cross country honors in 2010 to go with her two certificates from last outdoor season. She holds school records in the 3K, 5K and 10K, freshman records in the 3K and 10K, and cross country course records on three of the four courses in ESU's record book.

The PSAC Top 10 program recognizes outstanding student-athletes with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average who are starters or significant contributors for their team. All of the student-athletes selected in the fall, winter and spring seasons will be placed on the ballot for the PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, which is presented to one male and one female athlete at the conclusion of the academic year.

The other four members of the women's Top 10 list are Neely Spence (Shippensburg), the NCAA Division II cross country national champion; Alyssa Barrett (Slippery Rock), soccer; Rhianon Brady (Clarion), volleyball; and Danielle Ostendorf (IUP), volleyball.

The men's recipients include three football players in wide receiver Devin Goda (Slippery Rock), safety Shawn Sopic (Clarion) and linebacker Ian Wild (Mercyhurst), cross country runner Stephen Schelander (Shippensburg) and soccer player Bryce Shaffer (Bloomsburg).

Spence, an eight-time NCAA champion in cross country and track and field, and Wild, who is also a standout lacrosse player, were last year's PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

ESU has had nine student-athletes, including Mascoli, combine for 14 Top 10 honors in the last four years. The Warriors have had 26 student-athletes earn a total of 38 honors, tied for fourth-most in the 16-school conference, since the PSAC's sports information directors began selecting the lists in 1997-98.


2011 PSAC Fall Top 10 List

Men
Devin Goda, Slippery Rock, football
Stephen Schelander, Shippensburg, cross country
Bryce Shaffer, Bloomsburg, soccer
Shawn Sopic, Clarion, football
Ian Wild, Mercyhurst, football

Women
Alyssa Barrett, Slippery Rock, soccer
Rhianon Brady, Clarion, volleyball
Rose Mascoli, ESU, cross country
Danielle Ostendorf, IUP, volleyball
Neely Spence, Shippensburg, cross country