St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus senior multi-event athlete Cameron Clause (Mankato, Minn.) and senior cross country and track & field runner Rebecca Hare (Albany, Minn.) have been named to the 2013-14 Capital One Academic All-America Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
“I am very proud of Cameron and Rebecca for earnining Academic All-America honors,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “Both of them embody what we value at Gustavus.”
After garnering Capital One Academic All-District honors for the first time in their careers earlier this spring, Clause and Hare both make their initial appearance on the Capital One Academic All-America Team. Cameron Clause earns a place on the second team with a 3.76 cumulative grade point average in chemistry, while Rebecca Hare takes home third team marks with a 3.93 in English
Beginning with the selection of Brad Baker as the school’s first in 1979, Gustavus Adolphus College is home to 79 Academic All-Americans who have been awarded the prestigious honor a total of 102 times. With over 100 Academic All-America awards, Gustavus achieves a milestone reached by only 31 institutions across all divisions of collegiate athletics prior to the start of the 2013-14 school year. Clause and Hare are the fifth and sixth Gustie student-athletes to achieve Academic All-America status this year, following senior men’s soccer player Sean Sendelbach (Sioux Falls, S.D.), senior football player Torey Asao (Chaska, Minn.), senior swimmer Alissa Tinklenberg (Willmar, Minn.), and junior women’s hockey player Carolyn Draayer (Deephaven, Minn.).
Cameron Clause solidified his place as the best multi-event athlete in the history of the program. He won the heptathlon at the MIAC Indoor Championships with a conference and school record point total of 5,088. His performance broke the previous MIAC record of 4,881 held by Saint Mary’s Rob Friendt (2005), and the previous school record of 4,912, which he set during his junior season. For his performances at the MIAC Indoor Championships, he was named the Most Outstanding Field Athlete and took home the honor for Most Outstanding Performance of the Meet (heptathlon).
Clause earned a trip to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships where he scored a 5,065 heptathlon, taking fourth overall and earning the second All-America honor of his career. With the fifth place finish in the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships last season, Clause becomes just the third Gustie to garner All-America honors multiple times. Luke Speltz earned All-America distinction in the weight throw twice (4th-2002, 2nd-2003) and shot put (2nd-2003), and Brett Gross achieved a top eight standing twice in the shot put (6th-1995, 6th-1996).
The Mankato, Minnesota native then followed up his indoor season by breaking the school’s decathlon record at the Wartburg Select with a score of 6,491 on April 5 in Waverly, Iowa. His performance that weekend topped Jason Meek’s school record of 6,094 set in 1994. Plagued by injury late in the year, Clause was unable to compete at the MIAC Outdoor Championships. He did however qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships where he went on to finish 17th in the decathlon with a score of 6,335.
“By becoming a two-time All-American in the heptathlon, Cameron has established himself as one of the best multi-event athletes in NCAA Division III over the past two years, stated Bahr. “This is a result of hard work and his ability to apply himself. Cameron also made the same type of commitment in the classroom, which he was rewarded for with such a prestigious honor as this.”
A two-sport athlete who competed in both cross country and track & field, Rebecca Hare was a staple of Head Coach Dale Bahr’s top cross country lineup – earning All-Conference marks twice over the course of her career. In 2012, she was the top finisher (4th, 22:29.4) on a Gustavus team that came out of nowhere to win the MIAC Championship. As a senior, Hare finished second on the team and 13th overall with a time of 23:31.4, taking home All-MIAC accolades for the second time.
Rebecca also excelled at the NCAA Central Region Meet, earning All-Region honors twice. In 2012, she led the team with a 13th place finish with a time of 22:53.5, and in 2013, she once again paced the Gusties with a 22nd place finish in 23:12.99
In track & field, Hare added a pair of indoor All-Conference finishes in 2013 thanks to two gutsy performances in the meet’s two longest races. At the 2013 MIAC Indoor Championships held in Northfield, Minnesota, she finished runner-up in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:25.30 and third in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:17.63.
“Rebecca has been able to complete all of her coursework for graduation in three years and has been one of our top runners during that time,” Bahr said. “She is driven and always gives her best effort, not just on the course or on the track but also in the classroom. What she has been able to do during time here at Gustavus is amazing.”
Of the 45 male and 45 female student-athletes who were named to the first, second, and third teams of the Academic All-America Men’s and Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Teams, a total of five represent an institution of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. To go along with Clause and Hare, other MIAC recipients include Mark Volker of Hamline (Third Team), Lauren Rice of Augsburg (First Team), and Erin Statz of St. Thomas (Third Team).
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.