Heaney Named Academic Performer of the Year, Joins Four Seniors as Academic All Stars
PHILADELPHIA -- Swarthmore senior Erin Heaney was named the 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic Performer of the Year for volleyball while classmates Cait Mullarkey, Evan Nesterak, Emma Stanley, Natalie Stone and Jason Thrope were also selected Academic All-Stars for their respective sports.
In order to be eligible for the All-Star team, an athlete must be of sophomore athletic standing, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better, and be a starter or key reserve. Ballots for the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Star Teams, which sponsored seven teams (men's cross country, women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball) this fall, were compiled and voted upon by the 28 Philadelphia-Area Sports Information Directors Association (Philly-SIDA).
Heaney (Buffalo, N.Y. / City Honors) finished a fantastic career by breaking the Swarthmore school record for career digs (1,560). In 2007, Heaney (left) broke the school record for digs (492), was named all-Centennial second-team and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District. A three-time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll selection, the two-time team captain is 14th in Centennial history for career digs.
The senior political science major from Buffalo, N.Y. was a three-year member of the national leadership team for S.T.A.N.D., a student-led organization that advocates and fundraises to prevent and stop genocide, most notably in the Darfur region of Africa. Heaney also traveled to New Orleans, volunteering to do relief work and she is a member of TopsSoccer, which teaches handicapped children soccer. She received the Summer Action Award to perform community organizing in her hometown from the Lang Center, the College's center for civil and social responsibility. Heaney organized Class Awareness Month on campus and is active in Swat Labor Action Group (SLAP), bringing awareness about class difference along with advocating for the rights of immigrant workers.
Heaney is the seventh Swarthmore student-athlete (second female) to receive Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year accolade. She joins Vernon Chaplin ’07 (cross country), Reuben Heyman-Kantor ’06 (men’s soccer), Ian McCormick ’08 (men’s basketball), Mullarkey (women’s soccer), Frank Mazzucco ’08 (men’s lacrosse) and Eric Zwick ’07 (golf).
Mullarkey (Wilmington, Del. / Ursuline Academy), honors biology major, led the Garnet to their 
second consecutive Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (E.C.A.C.) South Region Championship in 2008. She recently became the first defender to earn All-Centennial First-Team honors all four years and has been named All-Region three times by the National Soccer Coaches of America Association (NSCAA). Mullarkey (right) is the vocal leader on a Swarthmore defensive unit that ranked in the top-30 in Division III for goals-against average (0.56), goals-allowed (12), and shutouts (13).
Mullarkey has earned a collection of academic awards in her career at Swarthmore. Just in 2008, she was one of 32 students in the United States to win a Rhodes Scholarship (the 17th Swarthmore athlete to do so), was named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America and received a NSCAA/adidas All-East Region Scholar Athlete selection. This is Mullarkey’s fifth selection as an Academic All-Star; she has been on the women’s soccer team three times and twice for track & field.
Stanley (Fogelsville, Pa. / Parkland), biology major, has been a top runner for the Garnet women’s cross-country team for four years. In 2008, she ran a season-best time at the Paul Short Invite on October 3rd and the following week, was named to the All-Tournament team at the Seven Sisters Championship (Swarthmore won the team championship) in central Massachusetts. This semester, Stanley (left) marked her 10th Conference Academic Honor Roll Selection.
Stone (Philadelphia, Pa. / Friends Select), an economics major, led the Garnet field hockey team in goals (nine) and points (23) for the second year in a row. In 
a 4-3 win against Roanoke, the senior forward scored the game-winning goal with ten seconds left. Stone (right) spent a summer as a Lang Center Chester Fellow with Pathways PA and spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. As an active member in campus organizations Stone is involved with Swarthmore S.T.A.N.D., Expanding Your Horizons and is a tutor for the Chester Children’s Choir.
Nesterak (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) and Thrope (Port Washington, N.Y. / Schreiber), both played integral roles in the most successful Swarthmore men’s soccer season in over 30 years. The Garnet won the program’s first Centennial Conference championship and advanced to the sectional round of the Division III NCAA Tournament. A nationally-ranked program for the most of the season, Swarthmore set school records for wins and conference wins after posting a 17-3-2 record.
Nesterak, a honors psychology major, led the Garnet offensive attack with nine goals, tied for most in Centennial play earning All-Centennial first-team honors (he was also selected NSCAA/adidas All-Region). The senior forward was named Conference Offensive Player of the Week on November 3 after posting game-winning goals against Muhlenberg and Haverford in a pair of 1-0 Swarthmore wins. Nesterak (left) scored a Conference-best four game-winning goals during Centennial action in 2008, finishing his Swarthmore career tied for 10th in points (44) and goals (21) in program history.
Thrope, honors political science major, was a versatile addition to the Garnet men’s soccer team. In 2008, he was a key reserve for the backline and made an emergency start as goalie in 
the Conference match against Gettysburg. It was his first career start in net, and posted two saves while registering a 3-0 shutout. Following his efforts in net, and as a defender, on the field that week he was named Centennial and East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Defensive Player of the Week. Thrope (right) is an active member of the Swarthmore Investment Club and the College’s golf team. He interned with Citigroup Smith Barney in New York City last summer and recently studied abroad at the Royal Holloway University of London.