SCAC Athletics

RHODES' HORVATH; DEPAUW'S SHAFFER HEAD SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY SQUAD

SUWANEE, Ga. - Rhodes College's Nicole Horvath and DePauw University's Natalie Shaffer head an impressive list of past standouts named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's 15th Anniversary women's cross country team.

Horvath is one of two three-time SCAC champions on the 15th anniversary women's team. She claimed titles in 1995, 1996 and 1997 and her finishing time at the 1995 championships set the league's all-time meet record (later broken). Rhodes won the team title all three years that Horvath won the individual race. DePauw's Natalie Shaffer also claimed three consecutive SCAC titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and finished second as a first-year runner in 2001. In addition, she has run three of the five fastest finishing times in conference meet history. Last season, Shaffer led the Tigers to their first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III Championships. In addition to Horvath, Rhodes placed three other athletes on the anniversary team. Emily Ferguson was an all-SCAC honoree all four years, including second-place finishes in 1997 and 1998. Marie Brandewiede and Amy Paine led Rhodes to team titles in 2001 and 2002. Brandewiede earned all-SCAC honors in 2001, 2002 and 2003, including a second-place finish in 2003. Paine was the SCAC Runner-of-the-Year in 2001 and finished second in 2002. Sewanee-University of the South placed three runners on the team - including two-time SCAC Runner-of-the-Year Heather Stone (1998, 1999). Stone set the league's all-time championship meet record with a finishing time of 17:46 in 1999, and finished a full minute ahead of the field in one of the more dominating performances in league history. Kari Palmintier and Katherine Koepke join Stone from Sewanee. Palmintier was a four-time All-SCAC performer and finished second in both 1995 and 1996. Koepke earned SCAC Runner-of-the-Year honors in 2000 and was All-SCAC three times. Centre College also had three athletes selected to the anniversary team led by a pair of two-time SCAC Runners-of-the-Year. Centre won the first four SCAC team titles and was paced by the efforts of Cheryl Hart and Debbie Finke. Hart won the 1991 and 1992 races and Debbie Finke followed with individual titles in 1993 and 1994. Finke finished second to Hart in 1991 and placed third in 1992. The Colonels' Eileen Schilling, a junior this year and the only active student-athlete to make the list, has finished third and second respectively in the last two SCAC championships. Mary Mayes of Southwestern was a four-time All-SCAC performer, including a second-place finish as a first-year runner in 1999.

Finke, Horvath, Shaffer and Stone were all unanimous selections to the team.

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will be announcing 15th Anniversary teams in all 18 sports during the 2005-06 academic year. The SCAC was formed in 1991 after a reorganization of its predecessor, the College Athletic Conference (CAC). The CAC dates to 1962 with four charter members: Centre College, Southwestern @ Memphis (now Rhodes College), Sewanee-The University of the South, and Washington & Lee (Va.) University. Washington (Mo.) University joined the CAC later that same year.

The SCAC was formed to provide an association through which the member institutions may encourage organized competition in intercollegiate sports among teams representative of their respective student bodies. Members of this conference share a commitment to priority of the overall quality of academic standards and quality educational experiences.

The SCAC's 15th Anniversary teams were selected in each sport through balloting by present coaches and administrators. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 1991 through the spring of 2005 and had been named to at least two All-SCAC teams were eligible for selection.