Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
All-Academic Teams
All-Academic Individuals
July 26, 2018 - 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 12th consecutive season. Eight Cardinals received individual All-Academic accolades as well, the second-highest total in the program's history.
The Cardinals earn the honor after posting a team grade-point average of 3.35 for the academic year. North Central is one of six College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) institutions to be honored, joining Augustana College, Carroll University, Carthage College, Illinois Wesleyan University and Wheaton College.
To be eligible for the award, institutions must be USTFCCCA members and compile a team GPA of 3.10 or better. A total of 185 NCAA Division III women's programs made the list this season.
The Cardinals' eight individual honorees include senior Bethany Bachmann, juniors Kyle Draghi and Naomi Yamane, sophomores Dianne Barajas, Ashley Buado and Madelyn Scopp and freshmen Alexis Henz and Kelsey McLaurin. 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.
Bachmann, a recent graduate with a degree in sociology (criminal justice concentration), teamed with Buado (exercise science major) and McLaurin (sociology) on the 4-by-400-meter relay squad which ranked 10th in program history and 30th nationally with a time of 3:56.00. Draghi (mathematics major), Barajas (graphic design), Buado and Henz (elementary education) joined forces to win the distance medley relay at the CCIW Indoor Championships. McLaurin also established North Central varsity records indoors (38'0.75") and outdoors (38'2.75") in the triple jump. Scopp (graphic design/psychology double major) finished second in the mile and 3,000-meter run and third in the 5,000-meter run at the CCIW Indoor Championships, followed by a third-place showing at the CCIW Outdoor Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Yamane (exercise science) was the Cardinals' lone qualifier for the Division III Outdoor Championships, placing 10th in the hammer throw, and placed fourth in the shot put, discus throw and hammer throw at the CCIW Outdoor Championships.
In all, 627 student-athletes from 152 institutions made the list, including 33 from the CCIW. North Central matches Wheaton for the highest number of individual honorees from a CCIW team and owns the 16th-highest total among all Division III teams.
