Ithaca College

Senior Amanda Laytham (Unatego/Otego) of the Ithaca College cross country and track and field teams has been awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.

Laytham, an exercise science major, will receive a grant of $7,500. The NCAA postgraduate scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their last year of intercollegiate athletics competition.

Laytham is an eight-time all-American, earning seven honors in track and field (the most of any Ithaca athlete) and one in cross country. She earned third-team academic all-America honors as a sophomore and first-team recognition last year, becoming one of just 11 Ithaca athletes named to more than one academic all-America team. Laytham has earned all-state honors four times in cross country (including the 2000 and 2003 state titles), 14 times in indoor track and field and eight times in outdoor track and field, winning a total of 16 state titles in individual and relay events.

She was awarded the inaugural Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year award this winter and has helped Ithaca win nine state championships (three in cross country, three in indoor track and field, three in outdoor track and field) and record six top-15 finishes at the NCAA championships. She holds five school records and was the national runner-up in the indoor 1,500-meter run as a sophomore.

Laytham is the fifth Ithaca athlete to be awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and the first since Colleen Skelly (women's cross country/track and field) in 1988.

Contributed by Michael Warwick