Cornell Chronicle Release
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior athletes Samantha Olyha and Emily Shearer have been named as two of nearly three dozen Marshall Scholars for 2014, the University announced Tuesday. Olyha and Shearer are the 13^th and 14^th Cornellians to receive the renowned scholarship since 1997.

The Marshall Scholarship, which is funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was established as a way to commemorate the ideals of the Marshall Plan – also known as the European Recovery Program, which provided assistance to post-World War II Europe. It affords distinguished and talented young Americans the opportunity to pursue two years of post-graduate study at an English University of their choosing.

A native of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Olyha competes in multiple events as a member of Cornell's women's track and field team.  Last season, she established personal bests in the high jump (5'1 1/4"), 100-meter hurdles (16.58) and shot put (32'9"). A student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Olyha will earn her undergraduate degree in biological sciences before continuing on to Oxford University to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. degree in oncology.

Shearer is a co-captain and accomplished member of both the women's cross country and track and field teams at Cornell. Most recently, she earned First Team All-Ivy honors with a sixth-place finish at the Heptagonal Championship and was named First-Team All-Region by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). A native of Lafayette, Calif., Shearer plans to split her two-year scholarship between the University of Cambridge and Oxford, pursuing master's degrees in public policy and medical anthropology, respectively.