Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
All-Academic Teams
All-Academic Individuals
July 22, 2019 - 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 13th consecutive season. Eight Cardinals received individual All-Academic accolades as well, matching the second-highest total in the program's history.
The Cardinals earn the honor after posting a team grade-point average of 3.47 for the academic year, its highest since the USTFCCCA's Academic Award program began in 2007. North Central is one of eight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) institutions to be honored, joining Augustana College, Carroll University, Carthage College, Elmhurst College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Millikin 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 184 NCAA Division III women's programs made the list this season.
The Cardinals' eight individual honorees include seniors Hailey Dammeier and Naomi Yamane, sophomores Katie Bonney and Kelsey McLaurin and freshmen Alexandra Draves, Stephanie Garcia, Allison Grady and Kathy Myrda. 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 50 in an individual event or in the top 35 in a relay event in the final indoor or outdoor rankings. Yamane is a three-time honoree, while Dammeier and McLaurin are recognized for the second time.
A recent graduate with a degree in accounting, Dammeier won the pentathlon and placed eighth in the high jump at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Indoor Championship before placing second in the heptathlon and sixth in the 400-meter hurdles at the CCIW Outdoor Championships. In June, she received a selection to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team.
Yamane, who recently graduated with a degree in exercise science, placed third in the shot put and sixth in the 20-pound weight throw at the CCIW Indoor Championship, then finished fourth in the discus throw and fifth in the shot put at the CCIW Outdoor Championship before competing in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship in the hammer throw for the second straight year.
Bonney, a social science major, placed second in the 400-meter dash at the CCIW indoor and outdoor championships and competed at both national championships in the 4-by-400-meter relay along with McLaurin (sociology major) and Grady (social science major). The relay team placed ninth in the nation indoors and 11th outdoors. McLaurin also competed at both national meets in the triple jump, placing eighth indoors to earn All-America honors, and won conference titles indoors and outdoors in the event as well en route to Google Cloud Academic All-District honors.
Draves, a graphic design major, achieved a new North Central freshman record in the weight throw (52'10.25"), placing third in the CCIW and ranking 31st nationally. Outdoors, she set another freshman record in the hammer throw (162'8"), placing fourth in the conference. Garcia, an athletic training major, set school varsity and freshman records indoors in the 60-meter dash (7.74 seconds) before placing 16th in the event at the indoor national championship. Myrda, a biochemistry major, finished second in the CCIW indoor and outdoor championships in the pole vault.
In all, 631 student-athletes from 150 institutions made the list, including 24 from the CCIW. North Central has the highest number of individual honorees from a CCIW team and owns the 15th-highest total among all Division III teams.
