FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Monday, April 9, 2007)
MATT BURKE, TORY MOLNAR NAMED
MAYNARD AWARD WINNERS AT WESLEYAN
(Outstanding Men's Lacrosse Defenseman and Record-Setting
Volleyball Libero Receive University's Scholar-Athlete Award)
Matt
Burke (male holding clock second from left), a senior at Wesleyan University in
Middletown, Conn., and a resident of Somers, N.Y., and Tory Molnar
(female holding clock in middle), a senior at the college and native of
Pasadena, Calif., were named the recipients of Wesleyan's Roger Maynard Memorial Award
in 2007,
presented annually to the outstanding male and female scholar-athlete as
either a senior or graduate student. Burke and Molnar represent
the finest combination of athletic accomplishment and academic achievement
at Wesleyan. Both have an overall GPA in excess of 3.50. Burke
and Molnar are joined in the photo (L to R) by head men's lacrosse coach
John Raba ; Matt's parents Grace and Thomas Burke ; Tory's father Geza
Molnar and his wife, Sally ; and head women's volleyball coach Gale Lackey.
Burke has been a
starting defender for the Cardinals' men's lacrosse team for three seasons,
helping Wesleyan qualify for the NCAA Division III tournament in both 2005
and 2006. Last year Wesleyan made it to the NCAA semi-finals, losing
in overtime to eventual champion Cortland St. In 2007, Wesleyan is off
to another excellent start with a 9-1 overall record and a #4 ranking in
Division III by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
Through games to date, Wesleyan is 52-15 during Burke's career. Burke
is majoring in economics at the University and is a two-time academic all-NESCAC
choice in men's lacrosse.
Molnar, who started as the libero (defensive
specialist) in women's voleyball for four years and served as a team
co-captain in 2006, a year in which Wesleyan posted a 19-9 record including
a 7-3 NESCAC posting, is the all-time leader in digs at Wesleyan. So
prolific were her defensive efforts over the years that she entered her
senior campaign with three of the top five all-time seasonal digs figures
and already held the career record. She added another 441 digs in 2007
to finish with 1,887, 648 more than any previous player at Wesleyan.
She also collected 109 service aces in her four years which ranks 19th
all-time at the University. An English major at Wesleyan, Molnar, who
was a two-time academic all-NESCAC selection, is working on her honors
thesis and has been involved as a photo editor with the student newspaper,
the Wesleyan Argus.
Burke
and Molnar were honored at a luncheon Friday, April 6, in support of National
Student-Athlete Day, an annual NCAA event.
