CAPE COD, Mass. – Recent graduate and distance-running standout Kerrin Epstein has earned yet another academic honor, this time winning an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Scholar-Athlete Award.

Epstein captured the award along with five other student-athletes representing ECAC schools in Divisions I, II, and III. One male and one female student-athlete from each division were selected based on extraordinary achievements in academics, athletics, and community service.

The Division I winners were Jill Davis (women's lacrosse) of La Salle University and Jeff Spear (fencing) of Columbia University while Kyrie Timbrook (softball) of Caldwell College and Gregory Malen (baseball) of Southern Connecticut State University were Division II recipients. Scott Desmond (men's soccer) of Clarkson University was the other Division III winner.

The winners will receive their awards on Tuesday, Sept. 28, during the ECAC Honors Banquet. The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis, Mass. during the 2010 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.

The honor puts the finishing touches on an outstanding collegiate career for Epstein, both in running and in the classroom. Earlier this summer she was named an ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American. It was the second Academic All-America honor for Epstein, who was also a third-team selection in 2009, when she became the first female cross country/track & field Academic All-American in school history. She was also named to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team for finishing with a 3.30 GPA and meeting an NCAA Division III indoor or outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard.

Epstein, who was also a three-time Academic All-District selection, kicked off a stellar senior season during cross country season, when she became the seventh runner in program history to qualify for the national championships after finishing third at the NCAA Mideast Regional, good for her third-straight all-region award. She went on to place 54th among 279 runners at the NCAA Division III Championships. She also captured All-Centennial Conference honors for the fourth year in a row by finishing fifth at the conference championships to earn first-team accolades for the second straight season. Earlier in the year, Epstein helped the Bullets into the national rankings for two weeks, their first since 1992.

Epstein continued to run well in track season, starting with an indoor campaign in which she broke the school record (5:13.70) in the mile. At the Centennial Conference Championships, she earned the bronze in the 3,000-meter run, finishing in 10:27.35 and missing the school record by less than a second, took fifth in the mile, and helped the distance-medley relay team place second. Outdoors, she set the school record (10:24.39) in the 3,000 at the Shippensburg Invitational before running a NCAA provisional-qualifying time and PR of 37:26.90 in the 10,000-meter run, good for a third-place finish, at the Centennial Conference Championships. She also scored additional points for the Bullets by taking seventh in the 1,500-meter run and eighth in the 5,000-meter run. Epstein finished the year ranked 46th nationally in the 10,000.

In the classroom, Epstein finished with a 4.01 GPA as an English and political science double major. Following cross country season, she was awarded a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, given to only 29 female student-athletes across all three NCAA divisions who compete in fall sports. A three-time selection to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, Epstein has been accepted into law school at the University of Maryland. She is a member of the Pre-Law Honor Society, the English Honor Society, and Phi Beta Kappa.

Off the track, she has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, contributing to the construction of houses and landscaping for low income families in the Gettysburg community, and has served as treasurer for the group. In addition, she has helped organize fundraisers for the St. Jude's Up 'Til Dawn program and made Thanksgiving baskets for families throughout the community.