PHILADELPHIA (06/10/03) - Junior Jerry Puryear has been named the final NovaCare Athlete of the Month for the 2002-03 year after an impressive month of May. He was a dominant force in the 400 meter hurdles and a member of the 4x400 relay team that continued to re-write the Saint Joseph's track record book. Puryear began his month at the Atlantic 10 Championships, where he won the 400m hurdles and was a member of the gold-medal winning 4x400 relay team. The next week he placed second in the 400m hurdles at the prestigious Larry Ellis Invitational before moving on to the IC4A Championships. There, he helped the 4x400 relay team finish second and sprinted to another second place finish in the 400m hurdles. He capped his year at the NCAA East Regional, finishing sixth in the 400m hurdles in a field the included athletes from as far north as Maine and as far south as Florida. Puryear also ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay, which broke the school record for the third time this spring. This year marks the first year that NovaCare has sponsored the Saint Joseph's Athlete of the Month. Previous honorees include Kevin Dougher (September, men's soccer), Katie Bobish (October, women's tennis), Andre Laboy (November, men's cross country), Jameer Nelson (December, men's basketball), 4x400 relay (January, men's track), Delonte West (February, men's basketball), Brian Mullan (March, men's lacrosse), and Mike Walls (April, baseball).