SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Wittenberg University junior student-athlete Skip Ivery will have to make some more room on his mantle. He has won another award.

Ivery has been selected to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-America College Division Men's Track and Field/Cross County second team. It was his first national Academic All-America selection after making the District IV first team in both track and football in 2002. He was also a District IV first-team choice in track/cross country in 2003, which led to his All-America selection.

Ivery, a management major from Columbus who was valedictorian of his senior class at Groveport-Madison High School in 2000, has accumulated a 3.80 grade point average in his first three years at Wittenberg. He is also the university's first Gates Millennium Scholarship recipient.

In his third year as a track and field letterwinner, Ivery helped lead the Tigers to second-place finishes in the North Coast Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championship events by sweeping the high hurdles events. At the indoor meet in March at Denison University, Ivery finished first in the 55-meter hurdles for the third straight year. At the outdoor meet in May at Ohio Wesleyan University, Ivery won the 110-meter hurdles for the second straight year.

But that was just the beginning of his exploits on the track in 2003. He finished second by the narrowest of margins in the 55-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at DePauw University in March. Then in May at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at St. Lawrence University, Ivery captured Wittenberg's first individual national championship in nearly 40 years with a first-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles. He single-handedly earned Wittenberg 21st place in the indoor championships, and, in combination with junior Tim Gaal, who placed second in the javelin, he led the Tigers to ninth place in the outdoor championships, the best finish in school history.

Also a three-year letterwinner in football, Ivery is setting records on that field of play as well. In helping the Tigers to the NCAA Division III Tournament for a fifth straight year in 2002, Ivery hauled in 50 receptions, second-best on the team, for 883 yards and 10 touchdowns, both of which were best on the team. After the season, he was named first-team All-NCAC and second-team All-North Region, along with the aforementioned academic honor.

Written By: Ryan Maurer