Five Marietta student-athletes named Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-OAC
Potter and Robertson named Academic All-OAC; Kosar, Kovacevich and Byers receive honorable mention

May 15, 2008
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio — The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) office released its 2008 Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-Conference Awards on Thursday (May 15) morning and five Marietta College student-athletes earned recognition, including senior Harrison Potter (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) and sophomore Randi Robertson (Avon Lake), who both picked up Academic All-OAC honors. In addition, senior Breanne Kosar (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park), junior Tiffany Kovacevich (Strongsville) and sophomore Chad Byers (New Matamoras/River) all received Academic All-OAC honorable mention.

Potter a four-year letterman in both cross country and track & field, was the Pioneers’ top finisher at both the 2007 OAC Cross Country Championship (47th) and the 2007 Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship (107th). The three-time Academic All-OAC award winner is the school record holder in the indoor Mile Run and is a member of the school-record holding indoor 4x800m Relay and indoor Distance Medley Relay teams. The mathematics and physics major carried a 3.95 grade point average into his final semester at Marietta and recently won the school’s Clyde Lamb Award. Potter, who won the 2004 John G. McCoy Scholarship, was active in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Robertson, a one-year letterwinner in cross country and two-year letterwinner in track & field, led Marietta to a 16th place finish at the 2007 Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship with the highest finish (43rd) and fastest time (23:30.35) ever for a Lady Pioneer at the regional level. She also earned All-OAC honors after finishing 11th at the OAC Cross Country Championship. Robertson also earned All-OAC honors at the 2008 OAC Indoor Track & Field Championship after taking runner-up in the 3,000m Run. Robertson is the school’s indoor record holder in the 1,000m Run, Mile Run and 3,000m Run; she is also a part of the school record indoor 4x800m Relay and indoor Distance Medley Relay teams. Outdoors, Robertson holds the school record in the 1,500m Run, 3,000m Run, 5,000m Run and is on the school record holding 4x400m Relay team. Robertson, a biology major maintained a 3.75 grade point average during her first three semesters. Earlier this year, she became the first female in Pioneer history to be named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team.

Byers, a two-year letterman on the track & field team, took first place in the Javelin Throw at the 2008 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The petroleum engineering major carried a 3.71 grade point average through his first three semesters.

Kosar, a four-year track & field letterwinner, earned All-Conference honors for the third time in her career after placing second in the High Jump at the 2008 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The biology major, who entered her final semester with a 3.49 grade point average, holds the school record in both the indoor and outdoor High Jump.

Kovacevich, a three-year letterwinner on the track & field team, finished runner-up and earned All-league honors in the Weight Throw at the 2008 OAC Indoor Track & Field Championship. She then won the individual title in the Hammer Throw at the 2008 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Kovacevich, who maintains a 3.58 grade point average as an advertising & public relations major, has now earned All-OAC honors on four different occasions during her career. Kovacevich holds the school record in the indoor Weight Throw and Shot Put as well as the outdoor Hammer Throw and Shot Put.

Head Coach Derek Stanley and the Pioneers recently took fifth place in the women’s competition and sixth place in the men’s competition at the 2008 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Next school year, Marietta will host the 2008 OAC Cross Country Championship on November 1 as well as the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship May 21-23.

Sophomore Randi Robertson was named Academic All-OAC in 2008