January 14, 2008

(Nashville, Tenn.): Former Clarion University 7-time NCAA Division II Diving National Champion and 2007 NCAA Woman of Year Finalist Jamie Wolf (South Park), was in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, January 13th, 2008, to receive the prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award.

Wolf received the award as part of the 2008 NCAA Honors Celebration, which was held during the NCAA's Annual National Convention. She is the first student athlete from the PSAC to receive the NCAA Top VIII Award since the NCAA started the award in 1973.

The NCAA Honors Ceremonies will be televised in its entirety on Friday, February 1st on ESPN2 from 3pm - 4pm with former Emmy and Peabody Award winner Jack Ford serving as emcee.

Wolf was honored along with Rachel Buehler (Stanford), Robert Castro (Georgia Tech), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Sarah Pavan (Nebraska), Ben Wildman-Tobriner (Stanford), Lisa Winkle (Calvin) and Sarah Zerzan (Willamette), as the most outstanding student-athletes in the NCAA recognizing athletic success, academic achievement and community service.

The Honorable John H. Glenn Jr. received the Theodore Roosevelt Award, the highest honor the NCAA bestows, while Jim MacLaren (NCAA Inspiration Award), Doug Zembiec and Emily Perez (Award of Valor Honorees), Robin Roberts and Anne Donovan (Silver Anniversary Award), and James Frank (Gerald R. Ford Award) were also recognized.

"The entire Clarion University community is tremendously proud to have Jamie Wolf named to the NCAA Top Eight. She is simply an outstanding student, record-setting athlete, and a wonderful person," said university President Dr. Joseph Grunenwald. "All of us who had the privilege of attending the NCAA Honors Celebration in Nashville with her were thrilled by the recognition of such an outstanding student-athlete. I am absolutely convinced that Jamie will continue to make us proud as she continues her doctoral education and moves into her chosen profession as a molecular geneticist."

Wolf graduated from Clarion University in May, 2007 with a 4.0 QPA in Molecular Biology. Just this year alone she was selected by CoSIDA as the ESPN The Magazine NCAA Div.II & III All-America of the Year (Scholar Athlete of the Year), The PSAC's Pete Nevins Award as the PSAC "Scholar Athlete of the Year", the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association Award as its Scholar Athlete of the Year presented by Disney's Wide World of Sports, and most recently, was one of 9 finalists for the 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, held on October 27th at the Murat Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana, which also was televised on ESPN2.

"Words honestly can't express how thankful I am for the great experience I had at Clarion," said Wolf. "I'd like to thank the NCAA for this prestigious honor, my family, teammates and everyone at Clarion University for helping me achieve this award.

My parents have always been there for me and have given me the drive and motivation to be a success. They helped me set my goals on being strong academically and athletically," she continued. "At Clarion my coaches, especially coach (Dave) Hrovat, inspired me to be a championship caliber athlete."

In her career Wolf set a new NCAA D-II record winning 7 of a possible 8 Division II National Championships. She won both the 1 and 3 meter titles as a freshman in 2004, and in 2005, earning NCAA Division II Female "Diver of the Year" honors in the process. In 2006 she won the 3 meter title, but placed second on 1 meter. In 2007 she won both titles again and set a new NCAA record in wining the 1 meter crown with a score of 453.75 points, topping the old NCAA record by 18.10 points. She also won the 3 meter in 2007 with a score of 499.15, which won by 70 points. She was again named the 2007 NCAA D-II Female Diver of the Year.

"I would also like to thank the honors program and all of my Clarion professors," reflected Wolf. "They not only provided a great learning environment, but they pushed me to the next level, showed me that you can never learn enough, and truly inspired me to get my Ph.D. and teach someday. The Clarion professors are special and put me on the right road to succeed academically.

I want to thank President Grunewald for being so dedicated to Clarion and truly caring about everyone associated with the University.

I also applaud the Clarion athletic department for striving to teach all athletes that academic success is the school's mission, while also striving to win athletic championships. We've proven for years that you can succeed in both areas and I'm proud to be a Clarion graduate."

Said Clarion A.D. Dave Katis, "It was a very rewarding, exciting and humbling experience to be in Nashville on Sunday, watch all of the awards ceremonies, and see Jamie Wolf honored with such elite company. Jamie's commitment to personal excellence is evident in everything she does and is an example for all athletes to model themselves after. She is the epitome the term scholar/athlete and we congratulate her on this great accomplishment."

CLARION NOTES: Wolf is currently attending Ohio State University on an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship ... She is majoring in Molecular Genetics ... Clarion's contingent at the NCAA Honors Celebration included President Grunenwald, V-P Harry Tripp, Coach Dave Hrovat, Katis, Associate AD Wendy Snodgrass, Faculty Rep Dr. Kevin Roth, Athletics Business Manager Dede VanEpps and Wolf's family including her parents Patricia and Patrick Wolf of South Park, her sister Jaclyn and boy friend Matt Jackel... She also has two brothers, Justin and Jason ... She was a graduate of South Park High School ... Other awards at Clarion include her being named the Female Athlete of the Year 3-times (2007, 05, 04) and the PSAC Academic Top Ten Award three times (2007, 06, 05).