The St. Mary's College of Maryland Department of Athletics and Recreation inducted its fifth class into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national college athlete honor society, during Sunday's ceremony at Daugherty-Palmer Commons before the inductees' family, friends and peers.

Chi Alpha Sigma is a nonprofit organization established to recognize collegiate student-athletes who earned a varsity letter in at least one sport while maintaining a 3.4 or higher cumulative GPA throughout their junior and senior years.

"Chi Alpha Sigma truly celebrates the intersection of their scholarly and athletic careers," said Dr. Jeffrey Byrd, the Faculty Athletics Representative and chair of the Biology department at St. Mary's.  "As athletes, they have a unique set of challenges outside of the classroom and I am always impressed at their ability to manage both tracks with such excellence."

The National College Athlete Honor Society was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana on May 17, 1996, by DePauw head football coach and professor of kinesiology, Nick Mourouzis.  Mourouzis recognized that there were many organizations that honored students for outstanding academic or athletic achievements, but none that did both.  Chi Alpha Sigma hopes to bring honor and recognition to deserving student-athletes, their families, teams, athletic departments, and colleges in much the same way as Phi Beta Kappa honors scholastics.

Women's soccer was well represented with five inductees on the list followed by field hockey with three.

The 23 new members are as follows: Jay Benedetti (Sr., baseball), Abby Bishop (Jr., women's soccer), Jeremy Butanis (Jr., men's tennis), Lisa Daciek (Sr., women's basketball), Justin Dohn (Jr., men's soccer), Ben Gould (Jr., men's soccer), Sarah Grady (Jr., women's soccer), Michele Hughes (Jr., women's soccer), Katie Klotz (Jr., women's soccer), Eleanor Koerner (Jr., women's swimming), Abby Locke (Jr., field hockey), Andrew MacLaughlin (Jr., men's tennis), Erin Marzoli (Sr., women's tennis), Briana McDowell (Jr., women's swimming), Kiely Murphy (Jr., women's basketball), Marie Oben (Jr., women's soccer), Mike Preston (Jr., men's swimming), Jerilyn Rogalski (Jr., women's tennis), Emily Smithson (Jr., field hockey), Amy Skrickus (Sr., field hockey), Shaun Summerville (Jr., men's lacrosse), Sarah Weisse (Jr., women's tennis), and Bobby Wiley (Jr., men's swimming).

The Department also recognized Chi Alpha Sigma Class of 2008: Mike Broccolino (baseball), Jessica Dunckel (women's swimming), Ali Femi (field hockey), Katherine Garlock (women's tennis), Travis Horrom (men's tennis), Mary Lyle Jeanes (field hockey), Caitlin Moore (women's swimming), Halley Pack (field hockey), Jesse Roche (baseball), Mike Rohrs (men's soccer), and Marianne Wood (field hockey).