Nine Michigan Women Earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

(Michigan Photography)

Nine Michigan Women Earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

7/16/2020 2:35:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

By: Kyle Terwillegar

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Nine women from the University of Michigan track and field team were recognized Thursday (July 16) for their accomplishments in both athletics and academics with All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

In addition to posting at least nine honorees for the third straight season, the women's squad as a whole was strong enough in the classroom to earn a collective team All-Academic plaudit for the ninth consecutive year under head coaches James Henry and Jerry Clayton.

Headlining the group is Alice Hill, an All-American and Big Ten champion with a perfect cumulative 4.0 GPA who last month was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America second team.

Joining her on the list was fellow All-American Aurora Rynda, as well as Amber Gall, Courtney Jacobsen, Emma Lane, Katt Miner, Briana Nelson, Annie Taylor and Ericka VanderLende.

This is the first career honor for all but Hill and Rynda.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better and have met one of two athletic standards. For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org. The outdoor season annually provides more opportunities to earn the award, but the spring campaign was canceled due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 global pandemic.

Hill and Rynda both ran legs of the Big Ten-champion distance medley relay team that earned All-America honors by virtue of qualifying to the ultimately canceled NCAA Indoor Championships. Rynda also claimed the Big Ten title in the 600-meter event, while Hill was a scorer in the mile.

Lane, Miner and VanderLende earned bronze medals at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with third-place finishes in the 4x400 relay, high jump and 5,000 meters, respectively.

Nelson and Jacobsen both eclipsed the existing U-M weight throw record at Big Tens en route to fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively, while both Taylor and Gall scored over the 800-meter distance at the conference meet.

Nationally, 659 women from 178 different institutions earned the individual award. Michigan was one of 219 programs nationally to earn team All-Academic honors.

USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals