Nathan Rittenhouse Receives Petcher Scholarship



	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 05/01/2008

	Nathan Rittenhouse Receives Petcher Scholarship

	BRIDGEWATER, Va. — Nathan Rittenhouse, a Bridgewater College junior, has received the Esther Mae Wilson Petcher Memorial Scholarship for the 2008-2009 academic year. The $1,850 scholarship was presented at the annual Awards Convocation on April 29. The award is named in memory of Esther Mae Wilson Petcher, a member of the Bridgewater class of 1944 and a former missionary to Nigeria. The grant is given each year to a rising senior who must be in good academic standing and demonstrate leadership in campus activities with emphasis on religious life. Rittenhouse's spirit of service embodies the qualities of Petcher. Rittenhouse, a 2005 graduate of Pocahontas County High School in Dunmore, W.Va., is the son of Julian and Lucy Rittenhouse of Greenbank, W.Va. A physics major, he is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society. He serves as vice president of the Physics Club and is a Student Peer Minister in his residence hall. An outstanding athlete, Rittenhouse has excelled in cross country and indoor and outdoor track. He holds the BC record in the outdoor 5,000 meters with a time of 15:16.74, and the College's record in the indoor 3,000 meters with a time of 8:58.63. For the past two years, Rittenhouse has won the State College Division Cross Country meet. He was named to the 2007 VaSID Academic All-State team. As a sophomore, he set a BC record in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:42.58 and was selected to the All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference first team. He also was named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III Men's Cross Country Academic team. As a freshman, he was named to the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional team. Bridgewater College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, enrolls more than 1,500 students. Founded in 1880 and located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was the state's first private, coeducational senior college.

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