February 12, 2008

Five Women's Runners on National All-Academic Team

Lopers Tied for Third Most Selections

       Kearney, Neb. – Five members of the 2007 Nebraska-Kearney women's cross country team have earned All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association).

      To qualify for the individual All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have completed 24 semester, or 36 quarter hours, and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale.  The student-athletes must also finish in the top 30 percent of individual participants at their respective regional cross country championships. 

      UNK also qualified for the team award as well. To make the cut for that award, a squad must compete at their regional meet and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00. A school must count all runners who competed in 50 percent of the team's races that fall.

      Qualifying for the individual  award are seniors Jacquelyn Dibbern (York), Michelle Dill (Imperial) and Anne McGovern (Grand Island) and juniors Kaci Lickteig (Dannebrog) and Faith Maschmann (Deshler).

      The University of Tampa led all schools with seven qualifiers while Seattle Pacific and Kutztown (Pa.) each had six. UNK was one of five schools that had five runners make the list.

      Overall, there was 202 female student-athletes from 99 Division II programs on the All-Academic team. 

      UNK had one of its most successful seasons in 2007, earning it's first-ever national ranking at the Division II level and finishing either first or second in three regular season meets. The Lopers then placed third at the RMAC Championships and sixth at the ultra competitive North Central Region meet.  At the North Central, Dill led UNK with a 26^th place finish with the remaining four all placing in the top 54. The field consisted of over 150 runners.

      Team wise, UNK was one of 99 schools from Division II to qualify for the award.

     The complete list is at: www.ustfccca.org.