College Recognizes Top Athletes in the Class of 2006

Skidmore honored its top senior athletes May 19 as part of Commencement 2006 activities. Women's tennis standout Madeleine Pauli (Uetikon, Switzerland), golf All-American Michael Stiller (Cambridge, MA.), women's field hockey and lacrosse All-Star Anne Ledyard (West Grove, Pa.), and men's lacrosse All-American Tom Spinella (New Hartford, N.Y.) were named senior athlete award-winners. Field hockey and women's lacrosse All-American Sarah Berheide (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) and tennis player Ibardo Zambrano (New York, N.Y.) were the senior scholar-athlete award-winners.

Pauli emerged as a regionally ranked player this past season. Playing number one, she is a two-time Liberty League All-Star in both singles and doubles and is a three-time Liberty League All-Academic honoree.

Stiller led the Thoroughbreds to a 10th-place finish in last week's NCAA Division III national championships in Lincoln, Neb. A third-team Golf Coaches Association of America All-American, he was the number-one player in the GCAA Northeast District. Stiller played in four NCAA tournaments and is a two-time All-Liberty League player and three-time All-Northeast player.

Ledyard, a 2005 field hockey All-American, is an All-American candidate in lacrosse. She is a three-time NCAA Division III draw control champion and finished the 2006 season ranked third, despite playing most of the season with a broken hand. Between the sports, she has six All-Region and six conference All-Star awards. Ledyard will represent Skidmore in next week's North-South Senior All-Star game.

Spinella is looking to earn his third lacrosse All-American award when they are announced next week. The 2005 Liberty League Player of the Year is a two-time Liberty League first-team All-Star. He led the team in scoring with 35 goals and six assists and has been among the top scorers in NCAA III for the past two seasons. Spinella will represent Skidmore on the 30-man Division III All-Star team that will play a Division I and II All-Star team during the national lacrosse championships next weekend in Philadelphia.

Berheide is a two-sport All-American who earned a combined four All-Region and six All-Conference awards. As a defender in field hockey, she anchored a defensive unit that played in three NCAA tournaments. As a lacrosse goalie, she set every major program record, including goals against average (7.01) and save percentage (.594). She was nationally ranked in both categories throughout her career. Berheide will play in next week's North-South Lacrosse All-Star game. A women's studies major, she recently received Skidmore's Tim Brown Scholar-Athlete Award and the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Awards. She has presented her research at several national forums and at an international women's studies conference in South Korea.

Zambrano, a native of Columbia, was a key four-year player on the men's tennis team. He helped the Thoroughbreds win three Liberty League titles, including the recent 2006 championship. A neuroscience major with a minor in chemistry, Zambrano is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the National Scholars Honor Society.