FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual Awards
July 23, 2013 - The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has recognized the North Central College women's track & field team for its success in both athletics and academics, awarding the Cardinals the Team Academic Award for the seventh consecutive season. Five Cardinals received individual All-Academic accolades as well.
The Cardinals earn the honor after posting a team grade-point average of 3.30 for the academic year. North Central was one of five College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) institutions to be honored, joining Augustana College, Elmhurst College, Illinois Wesleyan University and North Park University.
To be eligible for the award, institutions must be USTFCCCA members and compile a team GPA of 3.10 or better. A total of 148 NCAA Division III institutions were honored in 2012.
The Cardinals' five individual honorees included thrower Lina Baker, hurdler Amanda Coglianese, pole vaulters Elizabeth Composto and Brooke Patterson and multi-event athlete Jocelyn Redlinski. To qualify for the individual honor, athletes must have maintained at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and either competed in a national championship event or been ranked in the top 35 in an individual event or in the top 25 in a relay event in the final indoor or outdoor rankings.
Baker, an exercise science major, became the Cardinals' first All-American in the hammer throw at the Division III Outdoor Championships in May, placing seventh with a school-record distance of 173 feet. She improved on her personal best in the event by nearly 40 feet and surpassed the previous North Central record by more than 23 feet in 2013, also claiming the CCIW individual title.
Coglianese is an elementary education major and competed in her second straight outdoor national meet in the 400-meter hurdles this season. She established a new school record in the event (1:00.79) this season and ran on the first-place 4-by-400-meter relay at the CCIW Indoor Championships as well as the winning 4-by-100-meter relay at the CCIW Outdoor Championships.
Composto competed in both the indoor and outdoor national championships in the pole vault in 2013, placing fourth at the indoor championships to earn All-America honors for the second time. The interactive media studies major has won CCIW indoor and outdoor championships in the pole vault each of the past two seasons.
Patterson is a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing. She posted a season-best clearance of 11'7 3/4" in the pole vault this year, placing third at the CCIW Indoor Championships and second at the CCIW outdoor meet.
Redlinski, also an entrepreneurship major, qualified for the indoor national chamionships in the pentathlon and competed at the outdoor championships in the heptathlon. She was the CCIW's outdoor champion in the heptathlon and set a new school record with 4,566 points in the event. Redlinski also claimed a CCIW indoor championship in the 55-meter hurdles.
Coglianese, Composto and Patterson also made the USTFCCCA's All-Academic list last year, while Redlinski was so honored in 2011.
North Central swept the indoor and outdoor CCIW Championships this season for the second time in three years and secured a total of nine qualifying marks for national-championship competition.
