W&J TRIO EARNS ESPN ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT AWARDS (5/26)

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson College seniors Joe Caveney (Warwood, W.Va/Park) and Brittany Bertoli (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) {left} and junior Jessica Barby (Reading, Pa./Wilson) {right}  were recently selected to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-District II Team on Thursday. 

Caveney and Barby earned first-team laurels and move on to the national Academic All-America At-Large ballot, while Bertoli made the all-district second team for a second-straight season. 

The ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA at-large program includes the sports of men’s volleyball, women’s bowling, women’s crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo and wrestling.  CoSIDA’s District II includes all non-NCAA Division I colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.  The student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 or higher cumulative grade-point average to be nominated. 

Caveney, a member of the men’s golf team, recently graduated with a degree in economics.  He finished with a 3.92 grade-point average. 

Caveney helped the Presidents post their best finish in school history at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships two weeks ago in Port St. Lucie, Fla., at the PGA Village.  The Presidents placed 14th of 36 teams and earned the Presidents’ Athletic Conference’s automatic bid after winning the school’s fourth consecutive conference championship (14 overall).  Caveney tied for 108th place at the national championships with a 33 over par score of 321 (78-80-77-86). 

Throughout the season, Caveney was one of the squad’s top five players.  He played in 24 of the team’s 26 rounds and averaged 79.1 strokes per round.  Caveney shot a season-low round of 70 in the opening round of the CMU Invitational and also earned W&J’s Walter Hudson Baker Prize in Economics.

Barby shined in the pool for the Washington & Jefferson women’s water polo team this spring.  A child development and education major, Barby owns a 3.99 grade point average. 

Barby was the Presidents’ second-leading scorer this season with 31 goals and 36 assists for 67 points.  She was also third on the squad with 14 steals. 

Barby helped the Presidents win a school-record 11 games in 2009.  W&J earned its sixth invitation to the Collegiate III National Championships in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and the Presidents placed sixth.  Washington & Jefferson also placed fifth at the CWPA Championships.  As a sophomore, Barby collected 19 goals and nine assists. 

Bertoli starred for the Head Coach Mike Orstein’s swimming and diving team this winter.  She majored in child development and education major and graduated with a 3.68 GPA. 

A two-time team captain, Bertoli amassed 13 All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference swimming awards throughout her three-year career at W&J.  She earned four All-PAC awards as a sophomore, five as a junior and four more at this winter’s championship event. 

She is a six-time PAC Champion and the three-time defending champion in the 200 butterfly.  She also helped the Presidents claim a pair of 200 medley relay conference titles.  Bertoli also won the 100 butterfly PAC championship as a sophomore and remains as the school-record holder in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:10.13. 

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