FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-083-07-08
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Elizabethtown College Student-Athletes Kelly Downs and Erin Fisher Earn NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College seniors Kelly Downs (Airville, PA/Red Lion) and Erin Fisher (McEwensville, PA/Warrior Run) are among 58 recipients of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships for fall sports student-athletes, the NCAA announced Tuesday.

Both Downs and Fisher will receive one-time, non-renewable educational grants of $7,500through the program, which was founded in 1964 to promote and encouragepostgraduate education by rewarding the NCAA's most accomplishedstudent-athletes.

Elizabethtown College was one of sixschools with multiple recipients, joining Stanford University (4), theUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln (3), North Carolina State University(3), Nebraska Wesleyan University (2) and Oklahoma State University(2).

Downs and Fisher wereeach recognized as conference Player of the Year as they led theirrespective squads to conference titles and qualification in the NCAADivision III championships. They were also each honored by the MiddleAtlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation (MASCAC) asScholar-Athletes for the 2007 fall sports season.

Downs ,the Academic All-American of the Year in volleyball, was an honorablemention All-America selection by the American Volleyball CoachesAssociation (AVCA), a member of the AVCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region teamand the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year as well as afirst-team Academic All-District selection.

Shefinished the season with a school-record 511 kills and led theconference in kills, hitting percentage (.378) and blocks (181) as theBlue Jays won their first-ever Commonwealth Conference championship. Afour-time All-Conference selection, she finished her career asElizabethtown's all-time leader with 1,532 kills and 585 blocks.

Academically, Downs has a 4.00 cumulative grade-point average as an occupational therapy major at Elizabethtown.

Fisher finished15th at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country championships toearn first-team All-America honors, and was honored by the U.S. Track& Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as theMideast Region Athlete of the Year in women's cross country afterwinning the NCAA Mideast Regional title and her second straight MACindividual championship.

In seven races this season, Fisher recorded three wins and three second-place finishes while leading theBlue Jays to the MAC team title, a fourth-place finish at the MideastRegional meet and a 23rd-place finish at the NCAA championships.

Academically, Fisher maintains a 3.98 cumulative grade-point average as a double major in biology and mathematics.