SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) officially commissioned 111 student-athletes from Shippensburg University on Monday as scholar-athletes for the 2008-09 academic year. Over the course of the last three years, Shippensburg has fostered 319 scholar-athletes from its intercollegiate athletic teams.

Shippensburg's group of scholar-athletes is highlighted by NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner Theresa Simcic from the women's swimming team, three-time PSAC Athlete of the Year award winner Neely Spence and the PSAC Eastern Division Women's Basketball Player of the Year, junior Lauren Beckley.

Four teams boasted at least 10 scholar-athletes, with the men's and women's cross country/track and field programs combining for 34 award winners. Among that group includes the women's distance medley relay squad that won the Division II National Championship with a time of 11:24.54 and shattered the all-time tournament record.

This quartet - junior Shannon Hare, junior Mary Dell, Spence and sophomore Abby Huber -  combined to win just the second women's track national championship in school history. Most impressively, all four of the women have a cumulative quality-point average (QPA) of 3.85 or higher in their respective fields, and the group is being used in one of the university's marketing campaigns to promote "ChampionSHIP."

The women's swimming team, under the guidance of 11th-year head coach Tim Verge, featured 19 scholar-athletes and boasts the most award winners from an individual sport. Women's swimming at Shippensburg continues to be among the top-ranked academic programs among Division II institutions after compiling a 3.45 QPA for the spring semester.

Under the guidance of third-year head coach Rob Fulton, the women's soccer team featured 12 scholar-athletes while posting its most successful season in 11 years. The Lady Raiders finished with an overall mark of 11-8-1 and recorded the most wins in a season since finishing 13-6 in 1997 under coach Guy Furfaro. 

The field hockey program featured nine scholar-athletes, including PSAC Western Division Player of the Year Kim Davies. All three of the team's national All-Americans (Davies, Dani Haas and Carolyn Swift) earned scholar-athlete designations. Under 11th-year head coach Bertie Landes, Shippensburg has produced 40 scholar-athletes over the past four academic years.

Twenty student-athletes earned a 4.0 semester QPA in the fall while 24 student-athletes (five percent) accomplished the feat in the spring semester. Among the students achieving a 4.0 QPA in both semesters was women's volleyball junior Kali Antolik, the 2008-09 recipient of the prestigious Jack A. Mildred Prince Squires Scholarship through the John L. Grove College of Business. 

The women's tennis team, guided by veteran head coach Walt Manderson, had six of its seven players receive a PSAC scholar-athlete designation and finished with the highest team QPA on campus this spring (3.64). Seven other teams posted a 3.0 team QPA or higher for the spring. Overall, the men's athletic teams posted a 2.57 QPA this spring while women's athletic teams posted a 3.16. All of these marks are improvements from the fall semester.

A total of 1,859 PSAC student-athletes were recognized by the conference, setting a new league record in large part due to the addition of Gannon and Mercyhurst. Nearly one-third of all PSAC student-athletes were named scholar-athletes.

To be eligible for the scholar-athlete awards, student-athletes must attain at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average while competing in an intercollegiate varsity sport. PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray will award each scholar-athlete with a certificate of distinction.

The 2008-09 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year are Gannon's Kyle Goldcamp and Slippery Rock's Jen Blasko. In its 19th year of existence, the awards were renamed two years ago to honor East Stroudsburg's long-time sports information director Pete Nevins, who passed away in January of 2007.

The following is the list of Shippensburg's PSAC Scholar-Athletes for the 2008-09 academic year:

Baseball (5)
Phil Harnick
Matt Magrann
Ben Miller
Kevin Scholly
Nick Umberger

Men's Basketball (1)
Craig Van Scyoc

Men's Cross Country/Track & Field (11)
Greg Ahlswede
Brad Bechtel
Bryan Beegle
Christian D'Annibale
Eric Haidinger
Adam Henderson
Greg Osmolenski
Todd Phillips
Stephen Schelander
Jordan Shick
Nicholas Stultz

Football (6)
Riley Bowen
Glenn Burney
Andy Casale
James D'Annibale
John Garnier
Bobby Mullen

Men's Soccer (2)
Keith Kassel
Jeremy Taylor

Men's Swimming (3)
Will Kane
Kevin Riley
Shane Wolter

Wrestling (1)
Nathan Reese

Women's Basketball (4)
Lauren Beckley
Erin Varley
Sheila Wasser
Shelley Wasser

Women's Cross Country/Track & Field (23)
Mary Britsch
Sarah Brotzman
Megan Buckheit
Katie Craven
Mary Dell
Amanda Dubs
Emily Dubs
Amanda Emig
Katie Frey
Krysten Goetter
Shannon Hare
Laura Henzy
Erica Hess
Abby Huber
Samantha Jones
Chelsea Lacko
Margaret Merlie
Lauren Redington
Neely Spence
Kady Taylor
Sara Wagner
Sara Wlazelek
Jessica Yates

Field Hockey (9)
Jenna Blain
Kristen Brooks
Kim Davies
Jamie Doughty
Dani Haas
Lois Kaschenbach
Carolyn Swift
Erica White
Laura Wylde

Women's Lacrosse (3)
Erin Bergstrom
Kelsey Browning
Hannah Sperber

Women's Soccer (12)
Cassie Armold
Ashley Devorick
Alison Dowdrick
Ashleigh Dunlap
Lauren Estrain
Lisa Findley
Amanda Greenawalt
Megan Knoster
Kristin Mack
Heidi Mooney
Katelyn O'Brien
Brittany Oncay

Softball (2)
Emily Parkins
Maggie Sander

Women's Swimming (19)
Rachael Ballard
Sarah Bratman
Michelle Edmiston
Amy Fisher
Stephanie Fitzgerald
Mandi Foltz
Whitney Garner
Meghan Herr
Anna Kinard
Noelle Knupp
Jen McCance
Kristen McCandless
Molly McNeil
Jami Myers
Rachel Perugini
Theresa Simcic
Jessica Stusnick
Nicole Tritsch
Suzy Wiechelt

Women's Tennis (6)
Monica Berardi
Ali Horvath
Jackie Kramer
Robin Light
Jess Lodek
Calli Weidler

Women's Volleyball (4)
Kali Antolik
Kelsi Hoffman
Colleen Toomey
Jacklyn Tuccio