MADISON, N.J. – The Landmark Conference has selected six athletes as Landmark Senior Scholar Athletes for their respective fall sports. A committee of Landmark Conference officers, athletics directors and sports information directors selected the recipients, choosing one senior from each of the fall sports sponsored by the conference. The honorees must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 and are selected based on their accomplishments in all areas of college life including athletics, academics and other extracurricular activities. The award is the most exclusive awarded by the Conference with just 20 honorees for each academic year.

The 2009 Landmark fall sport Senior Scholar Athletes are: Men’s Cross Country: Andrew Smith (Arlington, Ten../Bolton), The Catholic University of America; Women’s Cross Country: Stephanie Huth (Willingboro, N.J./Holy Cross), The University of Scranton; Field Hockey: Nicole DiBattista (Newton, N.J./Kittatinny Regional), Drew University; Men’s Soccer: Galen Guindon (Wallingford, Pa./Friends Central), Goucher College; Women’s Soccer: Helene Nicoletti (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield), The Catholic University of America; Women’s Volleyball: Megan Sollenberger (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), Juniata College.

Smith was consistently one of the top performers for the Catholic cross country team during his career, including earning first-team All-Conference honors in 2007 with a career-best seventh-place finish at the Landmark Championships. He also posted finishes in the top-25 at each of the three Landmark Championships in which he took part and closed his career by earning All-Region honors his senior season with a 25th-place finish at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional meet. Smith is working towards a degree in electrical engineering and has an excellent GPA that ranks him near the top of his class. He has twice been selected to the Landmark Fall All-Academic Team, and is a three-time Fall Academic Honor Roll choice.

Huth closed her career by helping Scranton earn the program’s first ever conference championship when the team placed first at the 2009 Landmark Cross Country Championships. She was the first Scranton runner across the line at the meet with a fourth-place finish to earn first-team All-Conference honors , the second All-Conference honor of her career. The senior did not miss a single race in her four-year career and had eight top-10 career finishes to her credit. An elementary education major, Huth has earned Dean’s List honors every semester, including three perfect 4.0 semesters. She is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education and serves as a Head Start volunteer and a reading tutor.

DiBattista ranks as one of the most productive and decorated field hockey players in Landmark and Drew history. The senior earned All-Conference in each of her three seasons in the Landmark, including first-team selections in 2008 and 2009. She also twice captured National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Region accolades. She ranked in the top-6 in the Landmark in goals, assists and defensive saves in her senior season. A Landmark All-Academic honoree in 2008, DiBattista has earn Dean’s List distinction six times in her career as an economics major. She is a member of the ODE Economics Honor Society and volunteers as a coach at field hockey charity clinics as well as in the Abbott School District.

Guindon was a standout for the Goucher soccer program over his four-year career, which he capped by earning All-Conference recognition in his senior season. It was the second All-Conference selection of his career, after he also was picked in 2007. He made 69 starts for the Gophers over his career as a midfielder, scoring four goals and passing out 10 assists in those four years. Guindon was twice selected to the Landmark Fall All-Academic Team and also earned Fall Academic Honor Roll status three times. An accomplished violinist, he is a music major at Goucher, and is a three-time recipient of the Rosenberg Musical Scholarship for Performance, and was tabbed as the Goucher Scholar Athlete recipient in 2008.

Nicoletti has piled up the honors following her senior season in which she helped Catholic claim its first Landmark Championship and earn the program’s second NCAA Tournament bid. She was named the Landmark Defensive Player of the Year, along with earning All-Conference honors for the second time, and has added National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Region accolades, along with ECAC All-Star honors. She anchored a Catholic defense that led the Landmark in shutouts, and was second in goals against average. Nicoletti is studying nursing at Catholic and has been a Dean’s List choice in five of her six semesters, while also earning Landmark Fall All-Academic honors this year.

Sollenberger ranks as one of the most decorated Juniata volleyball players in program history. She was a three-time America Volleyball Coaches Association All-American, including earning first-team honors in her senior year. She was named the Landmark Player of the Year in 2009, and was selected as the Landmark Specialist of the Year in each year of Landmark play. She holds the Juniata record for career digs with 2,839. Sollenberger earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors in 2009, and is working towards a degree in finance. She is a member of the Tau Pi Phi Business Honor Society, volunteers with the Special Olympics and received the Juniata Presidential Merit Scholarship.

The Landmark Conference will select a Senior Scholar Athlete in each of the 20 varsity sports sponsored by the conference over the course of the 2009-10 academic year.