FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-113-04-05
Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Elizabethtown Seniors Melissa St. Clair & Steve Sanko Named MASCAC Spring 2005 Scholar-Athletes

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Two Elizabethtown College senior track & field athletes, Melissa St. Clair (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) and Steve Sanko (Hazleton, PA/Bishop Hafey) have been named the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation (MASCAC) Scholar-Athletes for the Spring 2005 season. One male and one female senior student-athlete is selected each season for the award from the 16 member schools of the MASCAC, which consists of the members of the Middle Atlantic Conference, the Commonwealth Conference and the Freedom Conference.

The pair are the third and fourth Elizabethtown College students to receive the award since it was instituted in the 2000-01 academic year. Sean Mulcahy '04 of the men's track & field team won the award for the Spring 2004 season, and Mandi Ewing '01 of the field hockey team won the award for the Fall 2000 season. The MASCAC Scholar-Athletes are selected on the basis of academic performance, athletic performance and service and leadership.

St. Clair will be wrapping up one of the most successful athletic careers in the history of the College at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa this weekend. In the 2003-04 academic year, she became the only student in Elizabethtown history to earn All-America honors in all three seasons of a single year as she was an All-American in cross country in Fall 2003, an All-American in the indoor 5000m in Winter 2003-04, and an All-American and the national runner-up in the outdoor 10,000m in Spring 2004. She was also named an Academic All-American for the 2003-04 academic year, making her the first Elizabethtown track & field/cross country athlete to ever receive the honor. This time around, she enters the NCAA Outdoor Championships ranked third in the nation in the 10,000m and 12th in the nation in the 5000m, and she was an All-Mideast Region runner in cross country in the Fall 2004 season as she led the women's cross country team to its first-ever MAC title and its first team appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship meet. In her career, she is a two-time All-American, a seven-time NCAA Championship qualifier, a seven-time MAC Champion and a ten-time MAC medalist in track & field. She holds Etown program records in the indoor 1500m (4:45.38), the indoor 3000m (10:15.65), the indoor 5000m (17:18.19), the indoor 4x800m relay (10:04.70), the indoor distance medley relay (12:14.37), the outdoor 3000m (10:19.33), the outdoor 5000m (17:22.82), the outdoor 10,000m (35:46.62), the outdoor 4x800m relay (9:58.54) and the outdoor distance medley relay (9:58.54). In cross country, she is a one-time All-American, a two-time All-Mideast Region Team member and a two-time First Team All-MAC runner.

Sanko highlighted his collegiate career in the Fall 2004 cross country season by earning All-America honors for the first time with a 27th place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship meet. In track & field, he is a six-time NCAA Championship qualifier and a one-time participant, and he has totaled five MAC Championship titles, eight MAC Championship medals, and the 2002 MAC Indoor Rookie of the Year award. He holds Etown program records in the indoor 1500m (3:56.26), the indoor 3000m (8:33.80), the indoor distance medley relay (9:58.76), the outdoor 4x1500m relay (16:04.66) and the outdoor distance medley relay (10:25.67). In cross country, he has been a member of the All-Mideast Region Team all four years of his collegiate career in addition to his one time as an All-American. He has also been a four-time member of the All-MAC First Team in cross country, and he finished in the top four at the MAC Championship meet three times. He has been a member of both the NCAA Cross Country Coaches' All-Academic Team and a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District II Team over the course of his career.