July 13, 2009
NEW ORLEANS – Five Yellow Jackets were named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Women’s All-Academic Team Monday for their academic and athletic achievements during the 2009 indoor and outdoor track seasons.
A record total of 531 student-athletes representing 146 Division I institutions composed the women’s 2009 All-Academic team.
Named to the team for the second straight season are senior Alana Clooten and sophomore Joanna Wright. They are joined by sophomore Erica Penk, and freshmen Mary Kate DuBard and Jasmine Isley.
Clooten, who was named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District and ACC Indoor All-Academic Teams earlier this season, qualified for her first-ever NCAA Outdoor Championships with a personal best distance of 194 feet in the hammer at the Yellow Jacket Invitational. The Industrial Engineering major (3.64 grade-point average) placed fifth at the ACC Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw, and sixth at the ACC Indoor Championship in the weight throw.
Wright, who became the first women’s track and field student-athlete in program history to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the pole vault, made the team after posting a 3.84 GPA in Biology this past year. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native placed fourth at the NCAA East Region Championships with the record clearance of 13’1.75″, and earned All-ACC honors while placing second at the indoor conference championships.
Penk, a sophomore from Dacula, Ga., has a 3.89 GPA in Computational Media. A 2009 Outdoor All-ACC honoree in the pole vault, she placed third at the conference championships with a then-record clearance of 12’11.50″.
Wright and Penk also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District and ACC Indoor All-Academic honors earlier this season
Earning USTFCCCA honors in just their first year on the Flats, DuBard and Isley both qualified for the NCAA East Region Championships during the outdoor season. DuBard held the team’s top time in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:46.04) at the Penn Relays, while Isley’s 59.94 was the squad’s second-fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met either the NCAA Division I Indoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard or the NCAA Division I Outdoor regional or national qualifying standard in their respective event.
