FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
2013 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals
July 23, 2013 - The North Central College men's track and field team has had a record number of student-athletes cited for academic excellence for the second straight year, as a total of 10 Cardinals have been honored by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Assocation (USTFCCCA) as All-Academic Individuals for the 2013 season.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic award, student-athletes must have compiled a grade point average of 3.30 and have competed at either the NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championships or finish the season ranked in the national top 35 in an individual event or the top 25 in a relay event.
The Cardinals' total of 10 honorees surpassed their previous best of nine, achieved in 2012. North Central tied with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the third-highest number of recipients from any NCAA Division III institution, trailing only the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (16) and Tufts University (12).
Jumper Zach Heerspink and pole vaulter Josh Winder claimed the honor for the fourth straight season, while distance runner Daniel Kerley makes the list for a third straight year. Distance runner David Janet, hurdler Joey Michals and pole vaulter Frank Wleklinski are now two-time honorees, while first-time selections include distance runners John Crain and Troy Kelleher, hurdler Derek Nelson and thrower Adam Weidner.
Heerspink, an exercise science major, recently completed a career which saw him qualify for six NCAA Division III national-championship meets and earn All-America honors three times. Most recently, he placed second at the Division III Outdoor Championships on May 24. He is a five-time CCIW individual champion, winning three titles in the high jump and two in the long jump. Heerspink was selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Team this season as well.
Winder, a physical education major, won his second individual national championship in the pole vault at this year's outdoor championships, earning All-America honors at the meet for the third straight year. He also placed third at the Division III Indoor Championships in March and has earned All-America certificates for three straight years in that meet as well, winning the indoor national title in 2012. Winder won the CCIW indoor and outdoor pole vault titles this season.
Kerley, a psychology major, qualified for his third straight outdoor national championship meet in the 10,000-meter run and earned All-America honors in the event in 2011 and 2012. He is the second athlete in the history of the North Central program to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team twice.
Janet is a biochemistry major whose time of 9:17.19 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase ranked him 34th nationally at the close of the outdoor season. He placed fifth in the event at the CCIW Championships and turned in a second-place finish in the 3,000-meter run at the CCIW Indoor Championships.
Michals, an English major, qualified for national-championship competition for the first time during the 2013 outdoor season, advancing to the national meet in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4-by-400-meter relay. He was the CCIW 400-meter hurdle champion in 2011.
Wleklinski qualified for the outdoor national championships in each of the past two seasons, clearing a personal-best height of 16 feet, 1 1/4 inches in 2012. He is a sociology major.
Crain, also a sociology major, won the national title in the 5,000-meter run at this year's outdoor national championships, also claiming a second-place finish at 10,000 meters. He won the CCIW outdoor championship in the 1,500-meter run and also has a 2012 indoor All-America certificate to his credit in the distance medley relay.
An English major, Kelleher ranked 35th in the nation in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:53.10 this season, placing fourth in the event at the CCIW Outdoor Championships. He also turned in a fifth-place finish in the 3,000 at the CCIW Indoor Championships. Nelson is a sport management major who placed second in the 400-meter hurdles at the CCIW Outdoor Championships and competed on North Central's 4-by-400-meter relay at the outdoor national championships, while Weidner, a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing, ranked 34th nationally in the outdoor shot put (51'5 1/2") after setting a North Central indoor freshman record in the event (50'10 3/4'). He finished third in the shot put at both the CCIW indoor and outdoor meets.
The Cardinals won the CCIW Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2013, claiming the program's 35th outdoor conference title and extending their perfect string of indoor championships to 13. North Central finished eighth at the 2013 indoor national championships and fifth at the outdoor national championships, finishing the year ranked second in the USTFCCCA's Al Carius Program of the Year standings.
