May 4, 2015

Riley, Rabenold earn Sportsman, Sportswoman of Year

GROVE CITY, Pa. – Grove City College has selected senior men’s tennis player Peter Riley (Woodbury, Pa./Northern Bedford) and junior women’s cross country/track and field performer Emily Rabenold (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) as its Omicron Delta Kappa Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, respectively, for the 2014-15 academic year.

Riley and Rabenold received their awards Saturday morning at Honors Convocation in Harbison Chapel.

Riley earned Presidents’ Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors for the third time in his career April 25 at the conference championships in Erie, Pa. Riley won conference titles at first singles and first doubles while helping Grove City earn its 25th consecutive conference title.

He also earned the league’s Player of the Year award in 2012 and 2014 after winning the conference’s No. 1 singles title in those seasons. He also captured conference titles at first doubles in 2012 and 2014.

This year, Riley owns a 10-3 record at first singles and a 10-3 mark in the No. 1 doubles slot. For his career, he is 44-10 in singles play and 48-16 in doubles action.

An English/French double major, Riley earned CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition from the region’s sports information directors in 2014. He has again been nominated for the Academic All-District program this year. Riley has earned Dean’s List honors as well as placement on the conference’s Academic Honor Roll. He has also received the College’s “Scholar Athlete” award.

Rabenold is a three-year letterwinner in track and field and a two-year cross country letterwinner. In November, she became the third NCAA Division III All-American in program history by placing 28th at the NCAA Championships in Mason, Ohio.

She is a two-time conference Most Valuable Performer in cross country and also earned All-Mideast Region recognition in both 2013 and 2014.

Rabenold recently repeated as the conference’s Most Valuable Performer in women’s outdoor track and field after recording three individual victories April 24-25 at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships. She won the steeplechase, the 5,000 and the 10,000 in helping Grove City to its second straight conference title.

Last year, Rabenold placed 15th in the steeplechase at the NCAA Division III Championships in Delaware, Ohio.

In February, Rabenold earned indoor track and field MVP honors at the inaugural indoor conference championships in Youngstown, Ohio. She won the mile and 5000, helping Grove City win the team title. Rabenold owns the school outdoor track record in the steeplechase and the 10,000 meters. She also holds indoor records in the mile, the 3,000 and the 5,000.

Rabenold is majoring in biology. She earned CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition in 2014 and has been named to the Dean’s List and the conference’s Academic Honor Roll.

Rabenold is just the second junior to earn Sportswoman of the Year. Three years ago, then-junior Angela Palumbo received Sportswoman of the Year honors.

Grove City first awarded its Sportsperson of the Year award in 1948. In 1982, the College split the award into Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year.

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