FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-41-01-02
Monday, November 19, 2001

Four Elizabethtown Athletes Named Commonwealth Conference Field Hockey
All-Stars

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Four members of the 2001 Elizabethtown College field hockey team have been named Commonwealth Conference all-stars. Making the conference first team from Etown included Beth Purcell (Lancaster, PA/Penn Manor), a senior forward, and senior goaltender Kate VanValkenburgh (Malvern, PA/Great Valley). Making the conference second team from Elizabethtown were sophomore midfielder Kate Gwilliam (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) and freshman midfielder Kelly Miller (Robesonia, PA/Conrad Weiser).

Purcell started all 20 games for the Blue Jays this season and led the team in goals scored with nine, points with 21, and shots with 94. She also tallied three assists this year.

In four years, Purcell tallied 32 goals and 12 assists for 76 career points. She was named a Commonwealth Conference all-star in 2000 as well.

Purcell is majoring in accounting at Elizabethtown. She is a 1998 graduate of Penn Manor High School.

VanValkenburgh started all 20 games for the Blue Jays this year and totaled 1,430 minutes in the goal. She made 136 saves for a .872 save percentage, had six shutouts, and a goals against average of 0.98.

A four-year starter, VanValkenburgh totaled 76 games played, 74 games started, and 5,256 minutes over the course of her career. Her career win-loss record is 43-31, and she had a goals against average of 1.50 with 612 saves for a save percentage of .844. She had 23 shutouts in four years, ranking her third in the history of the program. She also ranks third in Elizabethtown history in career saves. This is the first year she has received conference all-star honors.

VanValkenburgh is majoring in international business at Elizabethtown. She is a 1998 graduate of Great Valley High School.

Gwilliam started all 20 of the Blue Jays' games this season, posting five goals and four assists for 14 points. She also had two defensive saves this season.

Over the course of two seasons, Gwilliam has tallied six goals and six assists for 18 points. This is the first time she has been named to the conference all-star team.

Gwilliam is an undeclared major at Elizabethtown. She is a 2000 graduate of Quakertown High School.

Miller did not even begin the 2001 season playing with the varsity team. She quickly worked her way into the varsity starting lineup, however, and finished the year with 16 games played and 15 starts for Etown en route to making the conference all-star team as a freshman. She tallied three goals and one assist for seven points this year, and had one defensive save.

Miller is majoring in mathematics secondary education at Elizabethtown. She is a 2001 graduate of Robesonia High School.

The Elizabethtown College field hockey team ended its season 11-9 overall and 4-3 in the Commonwealth Conference. The team made the conference playoffs for the second consecutive year and reached the conference championship game for the first time since 1989.