ESU Academic Awards History

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University seniors Corinne Fitzgerald, Rose Mascoli and Matt Tholis have all been named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team for Division II Track & Field/Cross Country, it was announced Wednesday.

Mascoli is just the third three-time Academic All-American in school history, joining Katie Horst (women's at-large/field hockey, 1997-99) and Laura Mason (women's at-large/track & field, 1983-85). She is the only three-time Academic All-American on the squad and one of three repeat selections to the first team.

Fitzgerald was named to the Academic All-America team for the second time and is one of eight multiple-time Academic All-Americans for the Warriors. She and Mascoli are one of two sets of teammates on the first team.

Tholis, who was selected in his only season of eligibility, was named the male recipient of the PSAC's Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year award on Tuesday.

Their selections give ESU eight Academic All-Americans this academic year, the most in school history. Previous selections were Khriswayne Wallace (men's soccer), Eric Boyer (baseball), Rebecca Smith (softball), Brendan McKeown (men's at-large/wrestling) and Rabecca Lausch (women's at-large/tennis).

The track & field/cross country Academic All-America program recognizes student-athletes across both sports. Fitzgerald and Mascoli were both distance runners, and Tholis competed in the javelin during the outdoor track & field season. Grade-point averages are listed through the fall semester due to nominating deadlines.

Fitzgerald (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills), a Psychology major with a 3.89 GPA, was a national qualifier in the 3000m steeplechase for the third time in her career this spring. She was previously named to the Academic All-America second team as a junior and was ESU's Co-Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, along with Mascoli. She holds the school record in the steeplechase.

Mascoli (Lebanon/Lebanon Catholic), an Exercise Science major with a 3.98 GPA, is a repeat selection on the first team after earning third team Academic All-America honors as a sophomore. She was ESU's Female Senior Athlete of the Year, Co-Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year along with Fitzgerald, and a three-time All-American in her career at ESU. She holds school records in the 3K, 5K and 10K in outdoor track.

Tholis (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery), an Exercise Science major with a 3.90 GPA, was the NCAA Division II runner-up in the javelin with a mark of 232-0, a school record and the 12th-best in DII history. He earned his second career All-America honor and was also the PSAC champion, an NCAA automatic qualifier and a PSAC Spring Top 10 selection.

He was selected to the Academic All-America and All-District teams in his only year of eligibility after transferring to ESU from Rowan, where he was a DIII national qualifier in 2010.


PSAC Selections

The PSAC had 16 track & field student-athletes (nine women, seven men) earn Academic All-America honors - almost 20 percent of the 90 total selections from across Division II.

The women's first-team selections were Fitzgerald, Mascoli, Tabitha Bemis (Edinboro) and Erin Kling (California). Second-team picks were Stephanie Case and Kara Styles (Slippery Rock), Vicki Davis (Bloomsburg) and Katie Spratford (Shippensburg). Stephanie Smigiera (Edinboro) was on the third team.

For the men, Tholis is joined on the first team by Aaron Dinzeo (California) and Kevin Jewel (Slippery Rock). Joe Flott (Shippensburg) is on the second team, and Bryan Deibel (Edinboro), Jacob Griffin (Mercyhurst) and Kori Meshaw (Kutztown) are on the third team.

The conference combined for 52 Academic All-Americans across all sports in 2012-13, just off its total of 55 from the 2011-12 academic year. Gannon led the way with 10, followed by ESU with eight and California with seven.


About the Academic All-America Program

The Academic All-America program is administered by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). SID's nominate and vote on the student-athletes at the district level with first team selections moving on to the national level. ESU's district – District 2 – is comprised of the schools in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), WV Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).

This year marks the second time that separate teams are being selected in Division II and Division III, both at the district and national level. Previous selections came in a combined College Division, comprised of DII and DIII.

ESU had 11 total Academic All-District selections this year, marking the sixth straight year with at least 10 student-athletes mentioned, and has led the PSAC in three of the last six years (15 in 2011-12, 10 in 2008-09, 10 in 2007-08).
 
The Warriors rank second in the PSAC in the last six years with 66 student-athletes named Academic All-District in their respective sports.

Joining Fitzgerald, Mascoli and Tholis as this year's 11 Academic All-District selections were Khriswayne Wallace (men's soccer), Sarah Garman (women's soccer), Eric Boyer (baseball), Rebecca Smith and Jennifer Denaro (softball), Brendan McKeown and Braden Turner (men's at-large/wrestling) and Rabecca Lausch (women's at-large/tennis).

ESU has had 32 student-athletes combine for 43 Academic All-America awards in program history.


Information on ESU's three Academic All-Americans is below:

Corinne Fitzgerald (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills) – Psychology major with 3.89 grade-point average … two-time Academic All-America and three-time Academic All-District selection … named to Academic All-America 1st team as a senior, and 2nd team as a junior … NCAA qualifier for the third time in the 3000m steeplechase this spring, and the fourth time overall (went to NCAA's in cross country as junior in 2011) … ESU's Co-Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, along with Rose Mascoli … named to PSAC Top 10 in spring 2012 … second in steeplechase and third in 10K at PSAC outdoor championships … had NCAA provisional qualifying times in steeplechase, 5K and 10K … broke her own ESU record in steeplechase in 10:37.95 at Penn Relays and had 7th-fastest time in DII in regular season … placed 10th at NCAA Championships … placed sixth in 5K at PSAC indoor championships … in cross country as a senior, placed third at PSAC Championships (ESU's best finish since 2004) and seventh in Atlantic Region … three-time All-PSAC and All-Region in cross country … has seven top-6 times in ESU's record books, including the school record in the steeplechase and #2 times in indoor 3K and outdoor 5K.

Rose Mascoli (Lebanon/Lebanon Catholic) – Exercise Science major with 3.98 GPA … three-time Academic All-America (third in school history) - 1st team as a senior and junior, and 3rd team as a sophomore … three-time Academic All-District 1st team selection (fifth in school history) … ESU's Female Senior Athlete of the Year … ESU's Co-Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, along with Corinne Fitzgerald … three-time PSAC Top 10 selection … three-time All-American, earning recognition in cross country and the outdoor 5K and 10K as a sophomore … holds ESU records in outdoor 3K, 5K and 10K … has ESU's #2 times in indoor mile and outdoor 1500 … three-time All-PSAC and two-time All-Region in cross country.

Matt Tholis (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery) – Exercise Science major with 3.90 GPA … PSAC's Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipient on Tuesday … named to PSAC Spring Top 10 … NCAA DII runner-up in javelin with mark of 232-0 on May 25 … mark is #12 all-time in DII history … entered ranked third in nation at 226-5, an NCAA automatic qualifying mark … USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year … PSAC champion and Men's Field Athlete of the Meet at 223-11 … threw 210+ in final seven meets of his career, including 213-11 at Penn Relays … two-time All-American who finished seventh as a junior in 2012 … NCAA DIII qualifier at Rowan in 2010.