Mullarkey Named Philadelphia Inquirer Female Performer of the Year
PHILADELPHIA - Swarthmore College senior Caitlin Mullarkey '09 was named the 2008-09 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Female Performer of the Year, as voted on by the sports information offices of the 28 institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Junior women’s tennis player Rachel Wallwork '10 was also honored as the Women's Tennis All-Area Performer of the Year, senior golfer David Lau '09 earned a spot on the Men’s Golf Academic All-Area Team and Mullarkey was also honored as the Women's Track & Field Performer of the Year.
Mullarkey becomes just the second Swarthmore athlete to be honored as the overall Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year and the first female at the College; Vernon Chaplin was named Academic All-Area Male Performer of the Year in 2007.
Wallwork becomes Swarthmore’s eighth student-athlete (third female) to receive Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year accolades in their respective sport, while Mullarkey becomes the first Swarthmore athlete to be a two-time winner and multi-sport winner (’08 women’s soccer). Previous winners include Chaplin ’07 (cross country), Erin Heaney ’08 (volleyball), Reuben Heyman-Kantor ’06 (men’s soccer), Ian McCormick ’08 (men’s basketball), Frank Mazzucco ’08 (men’s lacrosse) and Eric Zwick ’07 (golf).
A senior honors biology major who graduated from the College in May, Mullarkey (Wilmington, Del. / Ursuline Academy) has a received a host of accolades for her work in the classroom and on the field. In November, she became one of just 32 American students and the 30th Swarthmore student to win a coveted Rhodes Scholarship. A six-time Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Star, she was named to the 2008-09 Third-Team ESPN the MagazineAcademic All-American team with a 3.86 cumulative GPA. An eight-time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll selection, Mullarkey will represent the conference as their selection for the NCAA Woman of the Year program.
On the track, Mullarkey holds four school track records (indoor mile, indoor 5,000, outdoor 3,000 steeplechase and 1,500) and concluded her running career with two gold medals at the Centennial Conference Championships (indoor 800 meters and outdoor 4x800 relay). She earned All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a fifth-place finish in the mile. At the outdoor championships meet, Mullarkey posted an 11th place finish in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. She was also recently named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America for women’s track & field.
On the pitch, Mullarkey captained the Swarthmore women’s soccer team to a second consecutive E.C.A.C. South Region Championship after becoming the first defender in Centennial Conference history to make First-Team All-Conference all four years. A three-time All-Region performer, Mullarkey was named Third Team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America and Scholar Athlete by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (N.S.C.A.A.).
Wallwork (Washington, D.C. / Georgetown Day)—who is on the Inquirer’s Academic All-Area Women’s Tennis Team for the second year in a row—played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for Swarthmore this season, earning Centennial Conference Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. A first-team all-conference selection in both singles and doubles, she had a 12-4 overall mark in singles (8-0 Centennial) and has won 19 consecutive Centennial singles matches. She has also been named to Second-Team ESPN The Magazine/Academic All-America in 2009 and All-District in 2009.
Lau (Hong Kong, China/ The Hotchkiss School [CT]), a senior captain, posted six top-ten finishes in eight rounds during the 2008-09 season, including a sixth-place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships. The team leader in stroke average (80.4), he shot the second-best round of his career (73) in his first home match in nearly two years after spending the 2008 season studying at Oxford University in England. A member of the Physical Education Advisory Committee who speaks four languages, Lau was also named to 2009 Centennial Conference Spring Honor Roll.
In order to be eligible for the All-Star teams, 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.