New Orleans – Gustavus Adolphus College track and field athletes Danielle Burgmeier (Plymouth, Minn.), Erica Roelofs (Vernon Center, Minn.), and Allyson Voss (Wausau, Wis.) have earned a place on the 2012 United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Track & Field All-Academic Team
Linfield’s Catherine Street (indoor field), Mount Union’s Aubree Jones (outdoor field), and Wartburg’s Laura Sigmund (indoor track) and Alana Enabnit (outdoor track) highlighted the USTFCCCA’s post-season academic honors by taking home the Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year Award for their respective season. Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year Awards are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest in individual events at the most recent NCAA Championships. Those who earn multiple individual championship titles rank higher in the tie-breaking process, and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker to establish a winner. Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes for the indoor and outdoor seasons, resulting in four categories
In addition to the Scholar Athletes-of-the-Year, the USTFCCCA also announced the women’s 2012 Division III All-Academic Track & Field Team. A total of 340 student-athletes representing 107 institutions compose the group.
Danielle Burgmeier, who graduated this past spring with a GPA of 3.590 in chemistry, accounted for 10 points at the 2012 MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Burgmeier finished runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 62.72 and was a member of the second place 4×400-meter relay team that recorded a time of 3:54.29. Fellow classmate Erica Roelofs graduated in May with a GPA of 3.451 in health fitness. Roelofs set the tone for the Gustie women at the MIAC Multi’s with a second place finish in the heptathlon after tallying 4,256 points. Pole vault specialist Allyson Voss is a to-be senior majoring in Spanish and sociology & anthropology with a 3.926 GPA. Voss took care of business during both track seasons this year, winning the MIAC indoor and outdoor pole vault titles. She cleared 11-feet 0.75-inches at the indoor meet and 11-feet 11.75-inches at the outdoor meet. A CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient, Allyson went on to become Gustavus’ first All-American in the pole vault after clearing a school record 12-feet 2.5-inches to take seventh at the NCAA Championships.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met either of the following athletic standards: a student-athlete must have competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship or finished the regular season ranked in the national top 35 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 25 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.
A total of 27 student-athletes from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) were represented on this year’s USTFCCCA’s All-Academic Team. The University of St. Thomas led the way with 10 recipients followed by Concordia College (4), Carleton College (3), College of Saint Benedict (3), St. Catherine University (2), Hamline (1), and St. Olaf College (1).