FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, November 18, 2004

CONTACT: Ted Breidenthal 816/474-7264 tbreidenthal@d3independents.org www.d3independents.org

Cintron, McGinnis Named Student-Athlete of the Month
Award Winners For Second Consecutive Month

KANSAS CITY, MO.--- For the second consecutive month, Lizzelle Cintron, a freshman middle blocker for the New Jersey City University volleyball team, and Patrick McGinnis, a senior forward on the Colorado College soccer team, were named as the recipients of the Association of Division III Independents Student-Athlete of the Month awards.

In October, when the New Jersey City University women’s volleyball team went 18-1, including a school-record 16 consecutive victories, and won the championships of the 11th Annual Gothic Knight Invitational and the 2004 Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, Cintron again was sensational. NJCU won 13 of its 18 matches by 3-0 sweeps.

Cintron, the NCAA Division III leader in kills by a considerable margin, averaged an NCAA-best 6.85 kills and 8.37 points per game, while defending 5.17 digs and rejecting 1.05 blocks per game. She hit .434 at the net, and added 0.52 aces per game. In all, her totals were 445 kills (445-97-802), 544.0 points, 68 blocks (62 solo), 336 digs and 34 aces.

For the month, Cintron was named the AVCA/Sports Imports Division III National Player of the Week once, the ECAC Division III Player of the Week three times, and captured the Association of Division III Independents and Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week in all five weeks during October.

For the month, Cintron was voted the Most Valuable Player of each tournament NJCU competed in. She had 30 or more kills in a match five times, with highs of 40 and 38. She registered at least 21 kills in 13 of the 19 matches. Offensively, she hit at least .300 in 18 of the 19 matches, and .500 or better 11 times.

McGinnis scored 20 goals and added three assists in the month of October. During the month, he led No. 21 Colorado College to a 7-1 record. Five of McGinnis’ 20 goals were game winners. All told, McGinnis leads the NCAA in goals and points, regardless of division.

This year, McGinnis has set single-season school records for goals and points. His October totals for goals and points alone would tie him for sixth and 10th, respectively, on the all-time single-season charts at CC.

McGinnis had four consecutive hat tricks to start the month, including a personal-best five-goal contest at Concordia-Minnesota. McGinnis, who has a 3.6 grade-point average, was named to the CoSIDA District 7 All-Academic first team.

The Association of Division III Independents consists of 17 Division III independent institutions that have joined together to recognize student-athletes at independent institutions, and to provide exempted postseason championship competition in seven sports in 2004-05. The Association recognizes outstanding athletic achievements of its student-athletes on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. For the first time, the Association provides statistical services for its members in seven sports. In addition, it also will announce all-Independent teams at the conclusion of 11 sports this year.

All student-athletes from the Association’s 17 members were eligible for the award. Each school was allowed to nominate its top performing male and female student-athletes from October. The award recipients were selected after a vote of the Association’s Student-Athlete Recognition Committee.

More information about the Association of Division III Independents is available at http://www.d3independents.org.