Senior men's cross country and track and field athlete Matt Molski and senior women's basketball player Caitlin Dearing have been named recipients of the Dr. Harold W. Eickhoff Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards at The College of New Jersey. The two are among 128 student-athletes who will be honored at TCNJ's 18th Annual Scholar-Athlete Luncheon which will be held on May 1. The luncheon honors student-athletes who have achieved a 3.30 grade point average or better while competing as a member of a varsity team at TCNJ.

Molski, a four-time TCNJ scholar-athlete honoree and a 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-American, is a chemistry major at the College with a 3.89 GPA. He earned All-America honors in 2004 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the distance medley relay, taking eighth place in 10:09.27. Molski is also part of TCNJ’s school-record in the indoor distance medley relay team (9:58.85). He also holds TCNJ’s indoor record in the one mile (4:13.59). He also helped the 2003 and 2005 TCNJ teams win indoor titles at both NJAC and ECAC Championship meets. At the 2004 NJAC Outdoor Championships, he won the 800 meter run. He is part of the Lions’ outdoor school-record holding foursome in the distance medley relay (10:02.26), a time they posted at the 2004 Penn Relays. He won the 2004 NJAC Indoor championship in the 1,500 meter and was part of the first place 4x800 relay team. As a senior in cross country this past fall, he was the NJAC’s Male Runner of the Year after winning the NJAC Championship in a time of 25:42.20. Also cited during the fall with a selection as the ECAC’s Division III Male Runner of the Week, Molski competed at the 2004 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, picking up 93^rd place in 26:26.8 to help the Lions finish in 18^th place as a team at the event. This past winter while competing at the 2005 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, he picked up All-America honors with an eighth place finish in the one mile run with a time of 4:20.69. Earlier this year he shattered his own school record in the event after posting a time of 4:09.71 this season in the event to earn his spot at the NCAA’s. During his scholastic career at TCNJ, the Lions have won four NJAC Cross Country Championships, four NJAC Indoor Track and Field Championships and will be vying for a fourth NJAC Outdoor Track and Field Title this May. In addition, TCNJ has also won three ECAC Division III Indoor Track Championships during his tenure on the team.

Dearing is a four-time TCNJ Scholar-Athlete who is a history and international studies major with a 3.919 grade point average. Fluent in French, she is a member of the French Club at TCNJ and spent the spring semester of her junior year studying abroad in France. Dearing has made the Dean’s List every semester since her arrival on campus and is a member of the History honor society. During her four-year tenure as a Lion, TCNJ won the 2004 NJAC Women’s Basketball Championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III Second Round.  Throughout her career, the Lions participated in the NJAC Women’s Basketball Tournament all four years and she helped the Lions compile an impressive 78-30 record, good enough for a .722 winning percentage. She is also a candidate for the 2004-2005 NJAC Scholar-Athlete Team for her accomplishments in the classroom and on the court.