ESU Academic Awards page

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University placed three student-athletes on the CoSIDA Academic All-America team for men's track and field/cross country, with senior Alex Zubko on the first team, graduate student Travis Toth on the second team and senior William Berry on the third team, released Thursday.

Zubko earns his second career Academic All-America honor after garnering a spot on the third team last spring. He is one of 15 student-athletes in NCAA Division II men's track and field/cross country to earn a spot on the first team.

ESU is one of four DII schools - along with Harding, Oklahoma Christian and Southern Indiana - with three selections on the men's team. There are 46 student-athletes honored overall.

ESU finishes the 2015-16 academic year with six Academic All-America selections, tied for the most in the PSAC.

Zubko (Dallas, Pa./Dallas), an Exercise Science major with a 3.94 grade-point average, is the 13th ESU student-athlete to earn multiple Academic All-America honors. He was All-PSAC second team in cross country in fall 2015, placing 27th in the conference, and was 33rd at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional.

In outdoor track and field, he was a PSAC qualifier in the 10,000m with a season-best time of 32:53.47. Zubko was the 2015 PSAC Champion Scholar for outdoor track and field as the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the championship site.

Toth (Newfoundland, Pa./Western Wayne), a graduate student in Exercise Science, maintained a 3.86 GPA during the fall semester after graduating with a 3.52 GPA.

He was named to the PSAC Top 10 for both the winter and spring seasons, highlighting his combined academic and athletic accomplishments.

Toth capped an impressive final season at ESU with a PSAC record in the hammer at the NCAA DII Championships, hitting a mark of 206-11 to place fifth in DII.

He finishes his career as a three-time All-America, five-time national qualifier and four-time PSAC champion. He won PSAC titles in the weight throw (indoors) and hammer (outdoors) in both 2014 and 2016 around a redshirt season in 2015.

Toth was twice named All-America in the hammer, placing fifth in 2016 and eighth in 2014, and was named All-America second team in the weight throw with a 10th-place finish in 2016.

Berry (Magnolia, Del./Caesar Rodney), an Exercise Science major with a 3.34 GPA, was named to the Academic All-District team for the third straight year in 2016.

He finished his career as a two-time All-America, four-time national qualifier and four-time PSAC champion in the high jump. He was PSAC champion both indoors and outdoors as a senior, and earned All-America second team status indoors with a 12th-place finish this winter.

Berry holds ESU records both indoors (7-0 1/2), becoming the first ESU men's high jumper to clear seven feet, and outdoors (6-10 3/4). He hit an NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in seven of his eight seasons of competition.

The PSAC is represented by 15 student-athletes on the Academic All-America track and field/cross country teams - seven women and eight men.

For the women, Sabrina Anderson (Slippery Rock), Megan Lundy (Shippensburg) and Alex Zanella (California) are on the first team; Summer Hill (California) and Emma Sullivan (Kutztown) are on the second team; and Kelsey Carlsen (Mansfield) and Sam Taylor (Slippery Rock) are on the third team.

For the men, Zubko, Alex Hampel (IUP) and Morgan Huegel (California) are on the first team; Toth, Caleb Bartlett (Shippensburg) and Jacob VanHouten (Slippery Rock) are on the second team; and Berry and Tyler Palenchak (Slippery Rock) are on the third team.


About the Academic All-District and Academic All-America program

The Academic All-District and Academic All-America teams recognize student-athletes for athletic and academic achievements and are nominated and voted on by members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).

ESU is tied for second in the PSAC with 95 Academic All-District selections in the last nine years (2007-08 through 2015-16), and tied for third with 36 Academic All-America selections in that time frame.

ESU finished the 2015-16 academic year with 12 Academic All-District selections, the most in the PSAC - William Berry, Travis Toth and Alex Zubko (men's track & field/cross country); Danielle Ard and Ally Roth (women's at-large - field hockey); Jon Schnaars, Devon Ackerman and Chase May (football); Sammi Ortiz (women's soccer); and Christian Bukowski, Casey Choffy and Jonathan Stuppe (men's soccer).

ESU had six Academic All-America selections this year, tied for the most in the PSAC - Jon Schnaars (football - 1st team), Devon Ackerman (football - 1st team), Ally Roth (women's at-large/field hockey - 3rd team), Alex Zubko (men's track & field/cross country - 1st team), Travis Toth (men's track & field/cross country - 2nd team) and William Berry (men's track & field/cross country - 3rd team).

This marks the fifth year that separate teams have been selected for Division II, Division III and College Division (NAIA/Canadian schools/two-year schools) institutions. The previous "College Division" included all DII, DIII, Canadian and junior college programs.

District 2 of Division II follows the NCAA's regional model and includes all schools from the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference), Mountain East Conference and CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association). The Northeast-10 Conference is also included in the region for football.

ESU has had 42 student-athletes combine for 59 Academic All-America awards in school history. Twenty-six student-athletes have combined for 36 awards in the last eight years.

At the district level, 94 ESU student-athletes have combined for 136 Academic All-District selections.


ESU's multiple-time Academic All-America selections
Alex Zubko, Men's T&F/CC - 2015, 2016 (spring)
Christina O'Connor, Women's T&F/CC - 2014, 2015 (spring)
Brendan McKeown, Wrestling - 2013, 2014 (spring)
Khriswayne Wallace, Men's Soccer - 2012, 2013 (fall)
Nemanja Nikolic, Men's Soccer - 2011, 2013 (fall)
Rose Mascoli, Women's T&F/CC - 2011, 2012, 2013 (spring)
Corinne Fitzgerald, Women's T&F/CC - 2012, 2013 (spring)
Matt Freed, Football - 2009, 2010 (fall)
Paul Wagner, Men's T&F/CC - 2009, 2010 (spring)
Kamar Samuels, Men's Soccer - 2002, 2003 (fall)
Katie Horst, Field Hockey - 1997, 1998, 1999 (spring)
Rob Stone, Men's T&F - 1996, 1998 (spring)
Laura Mason, Women's T&F - 1983, 1984, 1985 (spring)