FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-137-03-04
Thursday, June 24, 2004

Elizabethtown Junior Melissa St. Clair Named to CoSIDA Academic All-America College Division Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Team

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College junior distance runner Melissa St. Clair (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America College Division Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Second Team, announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). After making the third team last year, this is the first time that either St. Clair or an Elizabethtown track & field/cross country athlete has earned a spot on the Academic All-America team.

St. Clair is majoring in communications at Elizabethtown College and is a 2001 alumna of Chambersburg High School. In the 2003-04 academic year, she became the first Etown athlete ever in any combination of sports to earn All-America honors in all three seasons.

St. Clair was an All-American in cross country in November 2003 when she finished 34th as an individual at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship meet. She earned All-America honors again in March 2004 with a third place finish in the 5000m at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, and she earned All-America honors for a third time in May 2004 by finishing as the national runner-up in the 10,000m at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Over the course of her whirlwind year, St. Clair also earned First Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference honors and a spot on the All-Mideast Region Team in cross country, was named to the NCAA Cross Country Coaches' All-Academic Team for the second straight year, earned two gold medals in the 4x800m relay and distance medley relay and a silver medal in the 1500m at the MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, captured a gold medal in the 5000m and a bronze medal in the 1500m at the MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, became an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships in the 10,000m while competing at the Penn Relays, earned a spot on the MAC All-Academic Team three times, and she set Etown records in the indoor 1500m, indoor 5000m, indoor 4x800m relay, indoor distance medley relay, outdoor 1500m, outdoor 3000m, outdoor 5000m, 10,000m, and the outdoor 4x800m relay.

The Elizabethtown College women's cross country team completed the 2003 season with its best ever finish at the Mideast Regional Championships, eighth out of 38 teams, as well as with a third place finish out of 13 teams at the MAC Championships. The Etown women's indoor track & field team finished second out of 10 teams at the MAC Championships and 13th at the NCAA Division III Championships, while the women's outdoor track & field team placed third out of 10 teams at the MAC Championships and 15th in the nation at the NCAA Division III Championships. The Etown women's track & field team wrapped up just its fifth season of varsity competition in 2004.

To be eligible for the Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.