FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards

USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual Awards

July 23, 2014 - 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 eighth consecutive season. Six Cardinals received individual All-Academic accolades as well.

The Cardinals earn the honor after posting a team grade-point average of 3.29 for the academic year. North Central is one of six College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) institutions to be honored, joining Augustana College, Carthage 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 158 NCAA Division III women's programs made the list this season.
 

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The Cardinals' six individual honorees include three three-time selections, pole vaulters Elizabeth Composto and Brooke Patterson and multi-event athlete Jocelyn Redlinski, a two-time qualifier, thrower Lina Baker, and middle-distance runner Nora Ferguson and high jumper Kelsey Kirk, who make the list for the first time. 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. In all, 416 student-athletes from 126 institutions made the list, including 22 from the CCIW.

Composto, an interactive media studies major, placed first in pole vault at the CCIW Indoor Championships for the third straight year in 2014, becoming the 10th athlete in the history of the Cardinals' program to win three straight CCIW titles in the same event. She became North Central's third three-time All-American in the indoor pole vault with eighth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships. She also qualified for the Division III Outdoor Championships for the third consecutive year. Composto was voted to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Team for the second straight year and made CoSIDA's Academic All-America Team for the first time.

Patterson, who majors in entrepreneurship and marketing, placed 12th at this year's indoor national championships then posted a sixth-place finish at the Division III Outdoor Championships in May to earn her first All-America plaque. Redlinski, an entrepreneurship major, also made CoSIDA's Academic All-District Team. She broke her own school record in the indoor pentathlon (3,476) and placed eighth in the event at the Division III Indoor Championships to become North Central's first multi-event All-American. She won the heptathlon and was voted the Field Event Athlete of the Meet at the CCIW Outdoor Championships. She established a new school record in the heptathlon (4,687) with an 11th-place finish at the Division III Outdoor Championships, at which she also placed 14th in the 100-meter hurdles.

Baker, an exercise science major, broke her own North Central record in the hammer throw with a mark of 180'10" and won the event at the CCIW Outdoor Championships for the second straight year. She also qualified for the outdoor national championships for the second consecutive season, placing 10th. Ferguson, a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing, posted the Cardinals' highest individual finish at the outdoor national championships with a fifth-place showing in the 1,500-meter run. She was the CCIW outdoor champion at 800 meters and also competed at the indoor national championships in the mile run. Kirk, who majors in elementary education, won the high jump at the CCIW Outdoor Championships with a personal-best clearance of 5'5" which ranked 33rd nationally.

Baker, Composto, Patterson and Redlinski all made the All-Academic list in 2013, while Composto and Patterson also qualified in 2012 and Redlinski was so honored in 2011.

North Central swept the indoor and outdoor CCIW Championships this season for the third time in four years and secured a total of 14 qualifying marks for national-championship competition, including seven All-America selections.