| Molly Crispell gave the women's swimming team an Academic All-American for the fourth straight year with her second team selection. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; June 14, 2007 - Molly Crispell (Boalsburg, Pa.) of the women??s swimming team and Stephanie Sullivan (Gaithersburg, Md.) of the women??s gymnastics team were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans? on Thursday, becoming the seventh and eighth Academic All-Americans from Penn State for the 2006-07 school year. Crispell was named to the second team of the All-American women??s at-large team while Sullivan was elected to the third team.
The at-large teams encompass the sports of women's bowling, women's crew, men's and women's fencing, women's field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's rifle, men's and women's skiing, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo and men's wrestling.
The selection of Crispell marks the fourth straight year that the women??s swimming team has produced an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American? and the fifth time in the last seven years. Crispell follows in the footsteps of former women??s swimming Academic All-Americans Catherine Anderson (2001), Sally Anderson (2004), current assistant coach Dee Dlugonski (2005) and Sarah Haupt (2006). Crispell recently completed her third year at Penn State with a perfect 4.0 grade point average while majoring in bio-behavioral health. The junior from nearby Boalsburg, Pa. was one of three captains on the women's swimming team this past season. A relay specialist, she made her second appearance at the NCAA championships this year as she once again qualified as part of a relay team, the 800 free, and also swam in the 200 free and 500 free. At this year's Big Ten Championships, Crispell scored in the 200 free and on the 200 and 800 free and 400 medley relay teams. She will once again serve as a captain of the women's team next year as a senior.
| Stephanie Sullivan added a third team Academic All-American honor to her long list of honors and awards over her Penn State career. |
Sullivan graduated last month with a 3.94 grade point average in Life Science and has been accepted into the Hershey Medical School. A second-team All-Big Ten selection, she was the balance beam anchor for three years and in 2007 ranked second on the team and 11th in the nation on the apparatus with an average of 9.829. One of five gymnasts up for Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, Sullivan is also a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year and earned Penn State's McCoy Award, presented annually to one male and female senior student-athlete who have combined successful athletic participate with academic excellence. She was also the recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor. A two-year co-captain on the gymnastics squad, Sullivan earned eight first-place finishes on beam, including a career-high 9.925 at West Virginia. Out of the gym, Sullivan was the President of Alpha Epsilon Delta, a pre-med honors society, and was a four-time NACGC/W Scholar Athlete, graduating in the top 5% of her class. She was the co-founder of Penn State's first Public Health Fair and was a member of the Dean's List every semester. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Sullivan was also a member of the leadership honor societies Omicron Delta Kappa and Parmi Nous.
The selections of Crispell and Sullivan give Penn State eight ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans? in 2006-07 and 13 the past two years. Penn State has had 129 Academic All-Americans? all-time, to rank No. 4 among all NCAA institutions, with 86 such honorees over the past 14 years.
Crispell and Sullivan join six other Penn State student-athletes that have been named Academic All-Americans this year. Those six include Aubrey Aden-Buie (women??s soccer), Conrad Taylor (men??s soccer), Ryan Badaracco (men??s soccer), Paul Posluszny (football), who was also named the football Academic All-American of the year, Tim Shaw (football) and Nolan McCready (football).
The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America? Teams are selected by the 1,800 members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00.