Track: Four Named Academic All-Americans
With perfect 4.0 GPAs, senior Kate Harrison and junior Kaitlyn Gillespie were named to the first team while seniors Kaylyn Christopher and Ahna Lewis were named to the third team. “These four have been amazing for us,” says WVU coach Sean Cleary. “They have accumulated four top 10 national finishes at the NCAA Championships and six individual All-America honors on the track and cross country, which is nothing short of unbelievable.” Harrison, a graduate exercise physiology student with a 4.0 GPA, is coming off an excellent cross country season in which she finished in eighth place at the 2011 NCAA Championship for All-America honors, the best finish at the event in school history. The Toronto, Ontario, native also earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region and All-BIG EAST honors with her respective fifth- and third-place finishes. She was twice named WVU Student-Athlete of the Week in 2011 and came in seventh place in the 10,000-meter run at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships. A Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio native, Gillespie earned a 4.0 GPA in exercise physiology. Before sitting out the majority of the 2012 indoor season and all of the outdoor season, she earned her second cross country All-America honor in 2011 with a 27th-place finish at the NCAA Championship. She also earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region and All-BIG EAST honors with seventh-place finishes at each race and place second in two other races during the year. Christopher, a Kingwood, W.Va., native, earned a 4.0 GPA as a graduate secondary education major. During the 2011 cross country season, she earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors with a 25th place finish at the race and had three other Top 25 finishes at other races during the season before participating in the NCAA Championship. For track and field, she placed 14th in the 5,000-meter run at the BIG EAST Championships during the outdoor season and was a member of the 4x800 relay at BIG EAST during the indoor season. The 2011 NCAA Elite 89 Award winner for women’s cross country and BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete, Lewis was named to the Academic All-America list by way of her 4.0 GPA as a graduate secondary education major. The Morgantown native placed 19th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional to earn all-region honors and had two Top 20 finishes on the year before competing at the NCAA Championship. On the track, she placed ninth in the 10,000-meter run at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships. “With Ahna being named as the top student-athlete in the sport of cross country by virtue of her Elite 89 Award last fall, this graduation class has been sensational,” Cleary says. “Every time we graduate a huge class I wonder how we will ever rebuild.” The WVU foursome was named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District team three weeks ago. There are six seniors, seven juniors, and a pair of graduate students on the Capital One Academic All-America Division I Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country first team. Seven of the 15 scholar-athletes on the first team have perfect 4.0 GPAs, while the 15 first team members have an impressive 3.91 average GPA. Tennessee’s Chanelle Price was named the 2012 Academic All-American of the Year. To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports. For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit cosida.com. FIRST TEAM Name … School … Yr. … Hometown … GPA … Major Brigetta Barrett … Arizona … Jr … Wappingers Falls, N.Y. … 3.51 … Theatre Arts Hannah Brooks … Florida State … Gr. … Caterham, Great Britain … 4.00 … Sports Psychology (Master’s) Tara Diebold … Arkansas … Sr. … Branson, Mo. … 4.00 … Communications Disorders Frances Dowd … Virginia Tech … Jr. … Fairfax, Va. … 4.00 … Environmental Policy & Planning Kaitlyn Gillespie … West Virginia … Jr. … Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio … 4.00 … Exercise Physiology Leigh Gilmore … Alabama … Sr. … Grove Hill, Ala. … 4.00 … Civil Engineering Kate Harrison … West Virginia … Gr. … Toronto, Ont. … 4.00 … Exercise Physiology Jordan Hasay … Oregon … Jr. … Arroyo Grande, Calif. … 3.98 … Business Administration Anne Kesselring … Oregon … Jr. … Nurnberg, Germany … 4.00 … Business Administration Ryann Krais … Kansas State … Sr. … Eagleville, Pa. … 3.95 … Psychology Kathy Kroeger … Stanford … Jr. … Franklin, Tenn. … 3.95 … Math & Computational Science Nachelle Mackie … Brigham Young … Jr. … Spanish Fork, Utah … 3.98 … Elementary Education Chanelle Price … Tennessee … Sr. … Easton, Pa. … 3.93 … Journalism & Electronic media Sheila Reid … Villanova … Sr. … Newmarket, Ont. … 3.39 … English & Communications Ellen Wortham … Tennessee … Sr. … Maryville, Tenn. … 3.88 … Psychology THIRD TEAM Rebecca Addison … Michigan … Jr. … Spring Lake, Mich. … 3.53 … Movement Science Lindsay Anderson … North Dakota … Sr. … Leeds, N.D. … 3.93 … Communication Sci. & Disorders Alex Banfich … Princeton … Sr. … Plymouth, Ind. … 3.35 … History Jacy Bennett … Oklahoma … Jr. … Mesa, Ariz. … 4.00 … Supply Chain Management Brigid Byrne … U.S. Naval Academy … Jr. … Vienna, Va. … 3.89 … English (Honors) Sarah Callister … Weber State … Jr. … Ogden, Utah … 4.00 … Nursing Kaylyn Christopher … West Virginia … Gr. … Kingwood, W.Va. … 4.00 … Secondary Education, Journalism Anna Corrigan … Virginia … Sr. … Burke, Va. … 3.97 … Systems Engineering Nicole Ennen … Montana … Sr. … Bismarck, N.D. … 4.00 … Psychology Valerie Fraizer … Akron … Sr. … Lexington, Ohio … 3.86 … Art Education Carrie Hahn … Stephen F. Austin State … Sr. … Leander, Texas … 4.00 … Kinesiology Michelle Jenije … Florida State … Sr. … Tallahassee, Fla. … 3.73 … International Affairs Holly Knight … Louisville … Gr. … Ashburton, Devon, U.K. … 3.93 … Psychology (PhD) Ahna Lewis … West Virginia … Gr. … Morgantown, W.Va. … 4.00 … Secondary Education, English Carrie Wortham … Virginia Military Institute … Sr. … Richmond, Va. … 3.91 … Biology Tags Academic All-America, WVU track and field, WVU cross country |
 Big 12 Championship Report 3 |
 Mountaineers Speak on CNN |
 Big 12 Championship Report 2 |
 Big 12 Championships Report |
 Harrison Musgrave strikes out 14 in TCU victory |
 Around the Horn with Randy Mazey |
 |
