Athletics News

COMPLETE ITA ALL-AMERICA TEAMS

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Jon Reiss '07 became the 52nd Garnet men's tennis player to receive All-America honors in singles, earning the distinction from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as announced on June 28. 

Reiss, who graduated from Swarthmore in June, made his second appearance in the NCAA Individual Championships after battling through nagging injuries in 2006-07.  He led the Swarthmore men to their 30th NCAA appearance in 31 seasons, posting a record of 12-8.  The Garnet (7-10) hosted the NCAA Regionals for the second time in three seasons, defeating the College of New Jersey in the second round 5-0 before falling to Emory (Ga.), the 2006 national champion and 2007 finalist, in the regional final.

Reiss, ranked fourth in the Atlantic South Region heading into the NCAA Individuals, out-lasted William Ellison, the fifth-ranked player in the West Region from Claremont-Mudd Scripps (Calif.), in a tight first-round battle 7-6, 6-4.  Reiss fell to Zach Lerner from Amherst (Mass.) in the second round by the score of 6-1, 6-4.   Reiss was ranked 16th in the country in the June 5 FILA ITA rankings and maintained fourth position in the region.

Swarthmore was ranked 26th nationally and seventh in the Atlantic South Region in the final FILA ITA rankings.

OFFICIAL RELEASE (pdf)

SWARTHMORE, Pa.  -  Vernon Chaplin has been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Men's Cross Country/Track & Field Team Second Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on June 26. 

Chaplin is the third Garnet runner to earn Academic All-America honors (Marc Jeuland '01 and Danielle Duffy '98 are the others) and the first Swarthmore athlete since men's soccer goalie Reuben Heyman-Kantor was selected in 2005.

Among 46 runners spread across three teams, Chaplin was one of seven student-athletes selected from District II. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and a starter or significant reserve on his or her team.  The District II College Division consists of all NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA colleges and universities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.   Chaplin was placed on the District II first-team for the second straight year--he is the lone male representative from the Centennial Conference.

Chaplin has racked up a host of awards following his senior year at the College.  He received the Lew Elverson Award (given to the top junior or senior male athlete at Swarthmore), was named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Performer of the Year, the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Track & Field Performer of the Year and selected for Centennial Academic Honor Roll a ninth time.

Chaplin, who graduated in June with an astrophysics concentration in the honors program, is a National Merit Scholarship winner and Sigma Xi member. He interned at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, Calif.), co-authoring paper "Update on electron-cloud power deposition for the Large Hadron Collider arc dipoles" and was the 2005 winner of national Barry Goldwater Scholarship given in recognition of academic merit - from a field of more than 1,000 mathematics, science, and engineering students.  Following graduation, Chaplin is set to travel onto Vietnam to teach English.

Chaplin captained the cross country to fourth at the 2006 Centennial Championships and a ninth-place finish out of 39 schools at the 2006 NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional.

Already an established star on the track, Chaplin solidified his status as one of the top runners in the Swarthmore history.  He completes his collegiate running career with four school records--the indoor mile, the indoor 800 meters, the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 4x800 relay--and is an 10-time Centennial Conference Championship medalist (the most recent being a bronze medal in 2007 on the 4 x 800 meter relay).

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Swarthmore senior Sammy Faeder (New York, N.Y. / Stuyvesant) has signed a one-year contract to play in the Israel Baseball League during the inaugural 2007 season.  Faeder, a catcher, will play for the Netanya Tigers in Tel Aviv, Israel at Sportek Baseball Field.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I'm going to enjoy every second of it," said Faeder. "I want to go over there and play hard every chance I get to step on the field. This is a dream I've had since I was a kid, and I am excited to not only be playing baseball, but also get the chance to travel around one of the most historically-rich nations in the world."

The Israel Baseball League is the professional baseball league of Israel. In the IBL's inaugural season, there will be six teams -- the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Modi'in Miracle, Netanya Tigers, Petach Tikva Pioneers, Ra'anana Express, and Tel Aviv Lightning. Among the managers of the IBL's teams are former Major League stars Art Shamsky, Ken Holtzman, and Ron Blomberg.  Three of Faeder's Centennial Conference rivals will also be participating—Haverford's Nat Ballenberg, Ben Field and Travis Zier are on the Lightning roster.

Faeder and the Tigers open the season at the Shemesh Blue Sox on June 25.  Fans can follow the Tigers' (and Faeder's) progress at the IBL's official web site (www.israelbaseballleague.com) will reading up on the league's history, player profiles and the other teams in the league.

"I hope that this opportunity can open doors for other Swarthmore athletes," said Faeder.  "So many [Garnet athletes] are talented and driven to pursue their goals in sports beyond college athletics."

Batting leadoff for the first time in 2006, Faeder led the Garnet with career-highs in batting average (.349), hits (38), runs batted in (22), total bases (49), on-base percentage (.429), and slugging percentage (.450).  He left Swarthmore as a four-year starter and team captain, ranking among the all-time leaders in games played while seeing action at all the infield positions except second base (he made one pitching appearance in 2004).

"Sammy was the ultimate teammate in 2007," said Swarthmore head coach Stan Exeter.  "He expertly handled everything we threw at him, including learning the most difficult position [catcher] on the field."

Complete IWLCA/US Lacrosse All-Region Teams (pdf)

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Swarthmore College women's lacrosse players Melissa Grigsby (West Chester, Pa. / West Chester East) and Megan Sanborn (Lewiston, N.Y. / The Nichols School) were one of 211 student-athletes named to the 2007 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA)/US Lacrosse All-Region team.  Grigsby and Sanborn were both second-team selections in the Metro region.

The Garnet women were among the 22 lacrosse players representing the talent-rich Centennial Conference on the Metro region team.

Sanborn, a junior midfielder, posted career-highs for points (41), goals (22), and assists (19) while ranking 11th in the Centennial in assists per game (1.05).  She finished the regular season tied for second in the Conference with 1.82 caused turnovers per game (31 total on the season).  Sanborn led the team in five categories-draw controls (50), ground balls (47), caused turnovers, assists and game-winning goals (3).

Sophomore Melissa Grigsby was second on the team with 46 ground balls.

Grigsby, a sophomore defender, earns her first All-Region selection after leading the Swarthmore defensive unit.  She was second on the team with 46 ground balls and 34 draw controls while adding three assists.
 
Swarthmore completed the 2007 season with a record of 11-7 overall and 4-5 in the Centennial.

Sanborn and Grigsby are the 14th and 15th Swarthmore women to earn All-Region honors--defender Cara Tigue '06 was selected to the second-team in 2006.

Swarthmore completed the 2007 season with a record of 11-7 overall and 4-5 in the Centennial.

NEWSPAPER SPREAD: Page One / Page Two (pdf)

PHILADELPHIA -- Swarthmore College senior Vernon Chaplin (Indian Springs, Ala. / Indian Springs) has been named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Performer of the Year. The Academic All-Area teams were voted by the sports information offices of the 28 area institutions from the Philadelphia-metropolitan area, with each individual Performer of the Year appearing on the overall ballot. 

Swarthmore had 22 athletes make Academic All-Area in 2006-07, including Chaplin (cross country, track & field) and sophomore Cait Mullarkey (soccer, track & field) who were listed in both the fall and spring.  Swarthmore had three athletes on the men's overall ballot, including lacrosse goalie Frank Mazzucco '08 and golfer Eric Zwick '07.

Chaplin has racked up a host of awards following his senior year at the College.  He received the Lew Elverson Award (given to the top junior or senior male athlete at Swarthmore), was named first-team ESPN The Magazine District II All-Academic, selected for Centennial Academic Honor Roll a ninth time and was the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Track & Field Performer of the Year.

"It's always a tug of war," Chaplin said of college life. "It takes a lot of planning and time commitment to get everything lined up. But sports really helps me. It lets your mind be free. It was really crucial."

Chaplin, a senior astrophysics major in the honors program, is a National Merit Scholarship winner and Sigma Xi member. He interned at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, Calif.), co-authoring paper "Update on electron-cloud power deposition for the Large Hadron Collider arc dipoles" and was the 2005 winner of national Barry Goldwater Scholarship given in recognition of academic merit - from a field of more than 1,000 mathematics, science, and engineering students.  Following graduation, Chaplin will travel to Vietnam to teach English for a year.

Chaplin captained the cross country to fourth at the 2006 Centennial Championships and a ninth-place finish out of 39 schools at the 2006 NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional.

Already an established star on the track, Chaplin solidified his status as one of the top runners in the Swarthmore history.  He completes his collegiate running career with four school records-- the indoor mile, the indoor 800 meters, the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 4x800 relay--and is an 10-time Centennial Conference Championship medalist (the most recent being a bronze medal in 2007 on the 4 x 800 meter relay).

OFFICIAL RELEASE (pdf)

SWARTHMORE, Pa.  - Swarthmore College senior Vernon Chaplin (Indian Springs, Ala. / Indian Springs) has been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II College Division Men's Track & Field/Cross Country first team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The District II College Division consists of all NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA colleges and universities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. To be nominated for the team, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and a starter or significant reserve on his or her team.

This is the second straight year Chaplin was placed on the District II first-team--he is the lone male representative from the Centennial Conference.  He will now be placed on the national ballot along with the other 11 track & field/cross country athletes from District II.

Chaplin has racked up a host of awards following his senior year at the College.  He received the Lew Elverson Award (given to the top junior or senior male athlete at Swarthmore), was named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Performer of the Year, the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Track & Field Performer of the Year and selected for Centennial Academic Honor Roll a ninth time.

Chaplin, a senior astrophysics major in the honors program, is a National Merit Scholarship winner and Sigma Xi member. He interned at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, Calif.), co-authoring paper "Update on electron-cloud power deposition for the Large Hadron Collider arc dipoles" and was the 2005 winner of national Barry Goldwater Scholarship given in recognition of academic merit - from a field of more than 1,000 mathematics, science, and engineering students.  Following graduation, Chaplin will travel to Vietnam to teach English for a year.

Chaplin captained the cross country to fourth at the 2006 Centennial Championships and a ninth-place finish out of 39 schools at the 2006 NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional.

Already an established star on the track, Chaplin solidified his status as one of the top runners in the Swarthmore history.  He completes his collegiate running career with four school records--the indoor mile, the indoor 800 meters, the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 4x800 relay--and is an 10-time Centennial Conference Championship medalist (the most recent being a bronze medal in 2007 on the 4 x 800 meter relay).

COMPLETE RELEASE (pdf)

PHILADELPHIA -- Swarthmore senior Vernon Chaplin has been named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Track & Field Performer of the Year. The Academic All-Area Track & Field Team was voted by the sports information offices of the 28 area institutions from the Philadelphia-metropolitan area, and consists of ten men's lacrosse student-athletes.

Chaplin, a senior astrophysics major in the honors program, captained the cross country team to fourth at the 2006 Centennial Championships and a ninth-place finish out of 39 schools at the 2006 NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional.

Already an established star on the track, Chaplin solidified his status as one of the top runners in the Swarthmore history.  He completes his collegiate running career with four school records -- the indoor mile, the indoor 800 meters, the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 4x800 relay -- and is an 10-time Centennial Conference Championship medalist (the most recent being a bronze medal in 2007 on the 4 x 800 meter relay).

Chaplin has been selected for the Centennial Academic Honor Roll nine times and is receiving his third honor by Philly-SIDA.  He received the Lew Elverson Award on May 8, given to the top junior or senior male athlete at Swarthmore. 

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Swarthmore College senior Eric Zwick and junior Frank Mazzucco have been named to the 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II Men's At-Large Second Team, as voted on by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The District II College Division consists of all NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA colleges and universities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. To be nominated for the team, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and a starter or significant reserve on his or her team.  The At-Large eligible sports are 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. (In the at-large program, nominations are limited to three per school per gender.)

Zwick, a two-time captain on the Swarthmore golf team, is the first player in school history to make First-Team All-Centennial on two occasions.  He led team for second straight season with a 79.0 average over 13 rounds in 2006-07, including a season-best two-over par 74 on day one of the 2007 Conference Championships at Pilgrim's Oak Golf Club in Peach Bottom, Pa.  Swarthmore placed second at the Centennial Championships--the best in school history.

Zwick will graduate in June as an Economics major with a minor in mathematics, sitting for the honors exams in both disciplines.  He worked as an on-campus web programmer, aiding the College in the transition to new Content Management System in 2006.  Zwick developed new page layouts for various departments at the College, most recently re-designing the new-student portion of the Admissions web site.  Zwick also serves as a campus tour guide and Resident Advisor, and has an internship at Harvard this coming fall.

Zwick is a three-time selection for the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll and was named 2007 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Golf Performer of the Year.

Mazzucco was named 2007 Philadelphia Inquirer Men's Lacrosse Academic All-Area Performer of the Year.

Mazzucco, a team captain and three-year starter on the men's lacrosse team, is the goalie anad leader on a Swarthmore defense that posted a goals-against average of 7.71 in 2007 (fifth-best in the Centennial).  He was second in saves per game (12.58) and posted the third-best save percentage among goalies in the Conference (.624).

Mazzucco, a history major, was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week on March 6 after making 14 saves in a 5-4 double overtime victory against Goucher.  He was the first Swarthmore player to receive a weekly honor from the Conference since Andy Place '06.

Mazzucco volunteers for the Positive Alternatives program in Chester (Pa.) and is a member of the Swarthmore Christian Fellowship. He was named to the Centennial Academic Honor Roll and the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Lacrosse squad for the second time (specifically named Performer of the Year in 2007).

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Swarthmore College senior Sonya Reynolds advanced through the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division III Tennis Individual Championships, defeating Lauren Hom from Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.), currently ranked fourth in the Central Region, on the campus of the University of Mary Washington Friday morning.

Reynolds rallied past Hom 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 to move into the second round.

Reynolds faced Siobhan Finicane from Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) in the round of 16 on Friday afternoon and suffered a 6-0, 6-3 defeat. Finicane came into the match as the top-ranked player in the West Region.

Reynolds, twice selected All-America, finishes her senior season with a record of 18-7 after making her third consecutive appearance at the Individual Championships. 

ST. LOUIS -- Swarthmore College seniors Jon Reiss advanced through the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division III Tennis Individual Championships, defeating William Ellison from Claremont-Mudd Scripps (Calif.) 7-6, 6-4 on Friday morning. 

Reiss, making his second appearance in the NCAA Individual Championships, came into the match ranked fourth in the Atlantic South and out-lasted Ellison, the fifth-ranked player in the West Region with a 20-9 record this season, in a tight first-round battle.

Reiss faced Zach Lerner from Amherst (Mass.) in the second round on Friday afternoon and fell 6-1, 6-4. 

Reiss concludes the 2006-07 season with a record of 12-8.