(Posted March 9, 2001)

Two Juniata College student-athletes were named to the 2000-01 Middle Atlantic Corporation (MAC) All-Academic Team for their respective winter sports. Junior Brian Dietrich (Wilson/Wyomissing), a member of the men's basketball team on College Hill, and sophomore swimmer Alissa Schneider (Mililani/Mililani, HI) registered honors. To be eligible for the award a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore, have a minimum 3.40 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and be a key player for his/her squad.

Dietrich earned his second straight nod on the MAC all-academic unit. He started 23 of 24 games for the Eagles in the 2000-01 campaign and averaged 8.6 points and 1.9 rebounds a game. He finished second on the club in three-pointers with 30 and he ended the year second among the regulars in the blue and gold lineup in free-throw percentage (.776). Overall, Dietrich shot 47 percent from the floor and 40 percent from behind the three-point arc. This past winter he reached double figures in the scoring column eight times, including a season-high 21 points during a 75-72 overtime win against visiting Moravian on December 2. During one three-game winning stretch for Juniata, he averaged 16.3 points a game while shooting an impressive .783 from the field and .727 from behind the three-point line. An accounting major at Juniata, Dietrich has a 3.46 GPA.

Juniata finished the year with a 11-13 overall record and a 4-10 mark in the Commonwealth Conference. The 11 triumphs marked the most wins in a season by a blue and gold unit since the 1991-92 unit posted a 12-13 record.

Schneider, who received MAC academic laurels for the first time, was a member of the 200- and 400-yard medley relay units were also victorious at the MAC championship hosted by the University of Scranton on February 16-18. The 200-yard medley relay squad placed first while setting a school and MAC record time of 1:53.30. The 400-yard medley relay team placed first as well with a Juniata record time of 4:06.42. In addition, Schneider was on the 200-yard freestyle relay that took second (1:41.70) and the 400-yard freestyle relay that placed third (3:45.12). Both efforts were also Juniata program standards. Individually, she placed third in the 400-yard individual medley (4:53.74). Schneider was also second in the 200-yard butterfly (2:17.89 - school record) and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.41), but posted a school record time of 1:02.34 in the preliminaries of the event. For the year, she tallied a team-best 284.80 points, including 49 top-five finishes. She had an impressive 34 first-place finishes on the season. Schneider is a peace and conflict studies student with a 3.53 GPA.

Juniata posted a 9-5 overall dual-meet record this winter and placed fourth out of 11 teams at the MAC championship. It was the best-ever finish at the conference outing for the blue and gold swimming squad.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.