Courtesy Fitchburg State Sports Information

The Fitchburg State women's lacrosse team and senior cross-country athlete Phil McCormack (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) were honored this past week, collecting the MASCAC's first annual Sportsmanship Award, as selected by the Conference office.

This unique award honors an individual or team who has distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior on and off the field. Each nominee must have demonstrated consistent values of caring, fairness, civility, honesty, integrity and responsibility in their daily participation of intercollegiate athletics. In addition to sportsmanship, all-nominees must also demonstrate good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting and must be in good academic standing.

McCormack, a four-year member of the cross country team and track team at Fitchburg State, consistently demonstrated a commitment to sportsmanship throughout the 2008-09 season.The standout senior exemplified his commitment during the MASCAC Championships where, after placing fourth in the meet, McCormack stayed at the finish line and congratulated teammates and competitors alike as they finished the race. Rather than being an exception, this is the rule for McCormack, as he engaged in this activity after most cross-country meets throughout his Fitchburg State career.

McCormack continues to make an impact in other people's lives through his passion for and commitment to education. A recent graduate in the criminal justice field, McCormack intends to pursue a Master Degree and a Doctorate in criminal justice with the ultimate goal of teaching at the collegiate level.