With the discussion on two-sport athletes and academic accomplishments,
this seemed like an appropriate thing to post.
 
This can also be found on the Merrimack hockey web site under Press
Clippings.  The URL is
 
http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/Clippings.html
 
The following are from the Summer 1995 issue of Merrimack magazine.
 
THREE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAS
 
Merrimack's tradition of the student-athlete is long and distinguished.
Three student-athletes proved their excellence both on the field and in
the classroom this spring, as softball All-America Judy O'Connell and
baseball standout Chris MacDonald were each named to their respective
GTE/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America
teams, while hockey and men's tennis star Mark Cornforth was named to
the GTE/CoSIDA District Academic All-America At-Large squad.
 
...
 
Cornforth was a two-sport standout throughout his career and an accounting
major with a 3.36 GPA.  He capped his brilliant performance on the tennis
court for head coach Rick Edelmann by being named as the 1995 Northeast-10
Co-Player of the Year despite missing three matches this spring.  His
overall career singles record was 30-13, and he was the 1994 New England
Singles Runner-Up.  On the ice, Mark was a two-year team captain for the
hockey team, scoring 77 points as a defenseman.  He is also a four-time
member of the Hockey East Academic Honor Roll.
 
 
SUCCESS STORIES
MARK CORNFORTH: PLAYING - AND STUDYING - TO WIN
 
Passion for sports runs hot in Mark Cornforth's veins.  The award-winning
captain of Merrimack's hockey and tennis teams is more than just another
college athlete.  With a degree in accounting, Cornforth, alone among
this year's graduates, has contracts pending with both the Big-Six
accounting firm Peat Marwick in Boston and the American Hockey League.
 
The journey to Merrimack for Cornforth was a long one, beginning in
Montreal.  To be considered for hockey scholarships in Canada, students
must play in a hockey league.  For Cornforth, joining one meant moving
to Central Ontario, more than 100 miles away from home.
 
At 16, Cornforth moved in with a host family.  Such families, known as
"billets", provide food, shelter and emotional support in exchange for
a small amount of money.  The transition from his birth family to his
new family wasn't easy.  "I didn't know who they were when I moved in
with them," Cornforth says.  "They were nice to me, though.  They really
wanted me to succeed."  Cornforth got along well with his foster family,
playing hockey with the couple's children in the basement.  He also
kept in frequent contact with his own family in Montreal.  The emotional
support both families provided helped him during the long, arduous
competition to get into Ontario's Central Junior Hockey League.
 
Since college scholarships are available only to league players,
competition is fierce.  But Cornforth, one of Ontario's best transplant
players, made the cut.  While playing in Ontario, Cornforth was courted
by a number of college and university coaches.  But Merrimack hockey
coach Ron Anderson impressed Cornforth the most and managed to recruit
the young all-star.  Cornforth said farewell to his families, both
natural and adopted, and prepared for a new life in the United States.
 
Over his four-year hockey career at Merrimack, Cornforth totaled 77
points as a defenseman, scoring 17 goals and 60 assists.  In addition,
he was the tennis team's captain and number-one singles player.  Success
in sports translated into success in the classroom.  He was a dean's
list student, a member of the Hockey East All-Academic Team honoring
hockey players for maintaining a 3.0 average or above (Cornforth
graduated cum laude), and a co-recipient of the David A. Rafferty III
Memorial Award, which recognizes athletic, academic and leadership
achievement within the college community.
 
"I've learned a lot at school, both on the ice and in the classroom,"
Cornforth says.  "There is a direct relationship between school and
sports.  In both, you play for competition; you play to win.  I
approach school the same way I do, say, hockey.  I compete to win."
 
Recently, Cornforth completed a two-game contract with the Syracuse
Crunch of the American Hockey League.  As a free agent, Cornforth
eagerly awaits his future.  "I'm waiting right now to see if I get
picked up by the AHL," he says.  "Hockey is my first love, after
all.  Accounting, though" - he pauses for a moment of contemplation -
"that wouldn't be so bad either."
 
- by Christopher Cummings
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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