East Stroudsburg, Pa. - After finishing second in the division with a 5-1 record,. East Stroudsburg University has placed eight players on the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division first team, third most in the school's history and highest total in 23 years.

The Warriors haven't had as many players honored since the division championship 1978 team had ten players on the first team. The unbeaten 1976 team, which also won the Eastern Division title, also had ten players honored.

ESU punter Adam Hostetter made the All-PSAC first team for the third straight year after being a second team selection as a freshman. Tailback Andre Castiglioni and offensive guard Jim Sodano were repeat first team selections. Sodano had been a second team choice two years ago.

Kicker Mike Berry moved up from a second team choice last year. First-time picks were wide receiver John Kotarsky, safety Jeremy Brown, defensive tackle Dustin Barno and defensive end Shaun Bowman.

Four other ESU players, quarterback Jeremy Palm, defensive tackle Bryan Rybicki, linebacker Brian Holkovic and center Joe Burton, made the second team.

Of the 12 ESU players honored, the only returnees next season will be Barno and Burton. Palm also may have another year of eligibility remaining as he played in only two games as a freshman before being injured.

Hostetter (Sr., Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion HS) is the nation's top Division II punter with a 44.1-yard average, which is a school record by two yards. He punted 54 times for 2,397 yards with a long boot of 70 yards. Opponents returned his punts only 178 yards and the Warriors led the conference in net punting yardage.

Castiglioni (Sr., Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg HS) rushed for 1,077 yards with a school-record seven 100-yard games. He became the first ESU back ever to gain 1,000 yards in two different seasons.

He ran behind the blocking of Sodano (Sr., Madison, N.J./Bayley-Ellard HS), who made a team-high 20 pancake blocks and didn't allow a sack for the second straight year.

Kotarsky (Sr., Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall HS) caught 37 passes for 775 yards and nine touchdowns to lead the team in scoring. He averaged 110.7 yards per game receiving which would have led the conference and been among the national leaders, but he played in only seven of the team's ten games, less than the 75 percent required by the NCAA statistical service.

Brown (Sr., Centreville, Va./Centreville HS) was a dominating defensive player with eight interceptions, which he returned for 163 yards and two touchdowns, and a team-high 68 tackles, almost all on running plays. He also recovered three fumbles and had nine pass knockdowns. He helped the Warriors lead the conference in turnover ratio at plus-12 and in pass defensive efficiency with opponents completing only 40.2 percent of their passes for 118 yards per game.

Barno (Jr., Souderton, Pa./Easton HS) was the team leader in sacks with seven which was third in the conference and made 39 tackles including ten for loss. Bowman (Sr., Yardley, Pa./Livermore, Ca. HS) was tops in tackles for loss with 13 among his 47 tackles, which included five sacks.

Berry (Sr., Clarks Summit, Pa./Southridge, Fl., HS) was the conference's top kick scorer with 49 points on six of 11 field goals and 31 of 36 extra points. He had a long field goal of 41 yards.

A second team selection, Palm (Sr., West Lawn, Pa./Wilson HS) passed for 1,924 yards and 22 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Holkovic (Sr. Mitchell, Neb./Mitchell HS) was second on the team in tackles with 62 including seven sacks.

Rybicki (Sr., Landing, N.J./Roxbury HS) was a late-season stalwart on the defensive line and had nine tackles in the season-ending 31-30 win over Edinboro. Burton (Jr., Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore HS) started for the third straight year and was a leader on the offensive line.

The Warriors posted a 7-3 season record, best at the school since the 1993 squad finished 7-2-1.

Division champion Bloomsburg had the most first-team selections with ten including the PSAC Eastern Division Offensive Player of the Year Marques Glaze, who rushed for 132.7 yards per game. The Huskies' Danny Hale was named the PSAC East Coach of the Year.

Defensive back Pete Mendez of Kutztown was chosen as the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year based on his nine interceptions and 54 tackles.

The PSAC Eastern Division Team is as follows:

First Team Offense: center Will Lucas (Kutztown); guards Jim Sodano (ESU), Chris Mullin (Bloomsburg); tackles Brian Bingaman (Bloomsburg), Jason Cserpynak (West Chester), Aaron Fiacconi (Mansfield); tight end Allen Lechthaler (Bloomsburg), wide receivers John Chestnut (Cheyney), Tierell Johnson (Bloomsburg), John Kotarsky (ESU), quarterback Chris Thompson (Bloomsburg), backs Andre Castiglioni (ESU, Marques Glaze (Bloomsburg), Terrance Trogdon (Millersville), kicker Mike Berry (ESU), return specialist John Chestnut (Cheyney);

First Team Defense: Linemen Dustin Barno (ESU), Corey Bensoon (Kutztown), Shaun Bowman (ESU), Fran Gregor (Bloomsburg), Kevin Petri (Bloomsburg), linebackers Jeremiah Dyer (Bloomsburg), Dan Holland (Mansfield), Mark Jones (Cheyney), Keith Kersey (West Chester), defensive backs Toyea Berry (Bloomsburg), Jeremy Brown (ESU), Pete Mendez (Kutztown), Braden Steffy (Millersville), punter Adam Hostetter (ESU).\

Second Team Offense: center Joe Burton (ESU), guards Charlie Fay (Bloomsburg), Steve Schafer (Kutztown), tackle William Haywood (Cheyney), tight end Scott Grochowski (Mansfield), wide receivers Joe Bennett (Mansfield), Brian Bradley (West Chester), Alfa Jackson (Millersville), quarterback Jeremy Palm (ESU), backs Mike Eckmeyer (West Chester), Yorel Prosser (Kutztown), James Tillman (Mansfield), kicker Marcel Kottke (Kutztown), return specialist Bryant Stone (Bloomsburg).

Second Team Defense: Linemen Mike Bolinsky (Bloomsburg), Jason Coleman (Mansfield), Zack Meirs (Bloomsburg), Brian Rybicki (ESU), Jon Search (Kutztown), linebackers Brian Holkovic (ESU0, Brandon Neely (West Chester), Greg Roskos (Bloomsburg), Duane Thomas (West Chester), backs Andre Davis (Kutztown), Rudy Garcia (Bloomsburg), Adam Green (Kutztown), Allen Parker (Cheyney), punter Jon Corson (Kutztown).

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