367 Winter Student-Athletes Receive Honors 

HADLEY, Mass. - The New England Small College Athletic Conference announced its 2006-07 Winter All-Academic selections today, with 367 student-athletes that participated in a winter sport earning All-Academic recognition. To be honored, a student-athlete must have reached junior academic standing and be a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.35. A transfer student must have completed one year of study at the institution.

Of the 367 student-athletes that received Winter All-Academic accolades, a total of 125, more than one-third, had the honor bestowed upon them last year. 21 student-athletes on the 2007 Winter All-Academic squad also received NESCAC All-Conference recognition this past season.

Notable members of the Winter All-Academic team include seniors Eileen Flaherty (Fairfield, Conn.) of Bowdoin, Wesleyan’s Ellen Davis (Montclair, N.J.), and Williams’ Steve Spinelli (Longmeadow, Mass.). Flaherty, a member of the Polar Bear Women’s Basketball team, was named the 2007 NESCAC Player of the Year earlier this month as she helped lead her squad to a 9-0 conference mark and the 2007 NESCAC Women’s Basketball crown, the seventh in a row for Bowdoin. A history and Spanish double-major at Bowdoin, Flaherty earned All-Academic honors for the second year in a row. Flaherty, the Co-Rookie of the Year in 2004, also gained recognition on the 2007 NESCAC All-Conference First Team, completing a four-year run as a First Team honoree. The senior forward averaged a NESCAC-best 18.5 points to go along with a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game this year. She is the all-time leading scorer at Bowdoin with 1,864 points and has helped the Polar Bears record a 112-9 record over her four years.

Davis, a member of the Cardinal Indoor Track and Field Team, earned the individual title in the 5,000-meter event at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 10 in Terre Haute, Ind. Davis, who majors in women’s studies at Wesleyan, was named to the Winter All-Academic Team last year and has also earned All-Academic recognition in the fall of 2006 for Cross Country and spring of 2006 for Outdoor Track and Field.

Spinelli, a member of the Williams Men’s Swimming and Diving team, earned Swimmer of the Meet honors for the first time in his career after a brilliant performance at the 2007 NESCAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship. Spinelli placed first in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard Freestyle events and helped the Ephs’ 400 and 800-yard Freestyle Relay teams to victory as Williams swept the relay events at the 2007 championship en route to a fifth consecutive NESCAC title. Spinelli also received Four-Year High Point Swimmer for the performance over his career. Spinelli, who has earned All-Conference recognition in each of his four years with the Ephs, is a music major at Williams.

The Williams Women’s Indoor Track and Field team had 10 of the Ephs’ 72 All-Academic honorees on the winter team. Williams secured its first NCAA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship over the weekend in Terre Haute, Ind.

Amherst  |  Bates  |  Bowdoin  |  Colby  |  Connecticut College  |  Hamilton
Middlebury  |  Trinity  |  Tufts  |  Wesleyan  |  Williams