2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America® Track & Field/Cross Country Teams release dates: 
College Division Teams: below
NCAA Division III Teams: Tue., June 23
NCAA Division II Teams: Wed., June 24
NCAA Division I Teams: Thr., June 25
• Capital One Academic All-America® website
• Capital One Academic All-America® Track & Field/Cross Country Men's & Women's Teams - College Division
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – Graduate student Ellie Staker of Embry-Riddle (Fla.) University and senior Hans Roelle of Eastern Oregon University headline the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Track & Field/Cross Country Teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Track & Field/Cross Country Teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
Staker has been named as the 2014-15 Academic All-America® of the Year for College Division women’s track & field and cross country while Roelle has been selected as the 2014-15 Academic All-America® of the Year for College Division men’s track & field and cross country.
The 2015 NAIA indoor national champion in the 800-meter run,
Staker is a native of Seattle, Washington, with a 3.85 G.P.A. in computational mathematics and software engineering. She has earned All-America honors 17 times in her career, including nine times as an indoor competitor and eight times in outdoor competition. Honored as an NAIA All-American in cross country in 2013, she is a four-time Academic All-America® selection who earned first team notice for the second year in a row.
Named to the Academic All-America® first team for the second consecutive year,
Roelle is a native of Anchorage, Alaska, who holds a 3.84 G.P.A. in computer science and multimedia. He earned the NAIA national indoor title in the 1,000-meter run as a senior and competed at the 2015 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. A six-time NAIA All-America selection, he finished in 33rd place out of 320 runners at the 2014 NAIA Cross Country National Championships.
Women's Track & Field/XC College Division Team
Staker is one of seven student-athletes to earn a repeat selection on the Academic All-America® Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country teams, joining
Anna Bos of Trinity Christian College, Erin DeVries of Doane College, Catherine Fakler and Devinn Rolland of Xavier University of Louisiana, Hallie Herbert of Oklahoma Baptist University and
Lauren Opp of Dordt College.
Earning a spot on the Academic All-America® first team for the second straight year,
Bos is a biochemistry major with a 3.97 G.P.A. The Rockford, Michigan, native qualified for the NAIA Cross Country National Championship four times and earned a pair of NCCAA All-America selections. A four-time all-conference pick in cross country, Bos has also qualified for the NAIA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships during her career, earning All-America notice in both sports.
After earning second team honors in each of the past two seasons,
DeVries received a selection to the Academic All-America® first team as a senior. A native of Chambers, Nebraska, DeVries is a psychology and sociology major who carries a 3.92 G.P.A. During her senior season, DeVries was named as an NAIA All-American in the pentathlon and heptathlon after claiming the Great Plains Athletic Conference titles in both events. DeVries earned all-conference notice seven times as a senior, including four times during the indoor season. She is a member of the ODK Honors Society and works as a student assistant in the Doane Sports Information Office.
Fakler, who is from Phoenix, Arizona, and Rolland, who is from Harvey, Louisiana, return to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team after being named to the second team in 2013.
Fakler, who has a 4.00 G.P.A. in English/English education, is the Xavier track record holder in the 1,500 and 5,000-meter runs along with the 3,200 relay. She is an 11-time Gulf Coast Conference individual champion plus a part of two winning relay teams. Fakler won four individual events and anchored the winning relay team at the 2015 GCAC meet. She was the 2013 Louisiana Cross Country Runner of the Year at the GCAC champion.
Rolland, who has a 3.91 G.P.A. in pharmacy, earned All-America honors for the third time at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championship as she finished in the long jump with a season-best 18 feet, 9.75 inches (5.73 meters). Rolland earned All-GCAC honors three times with 12 Performer of the Week field honors.
A two-time first team Academic All-America® honoree,
Herbert is a native of Perryton, Texas, who carries a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. in math education. The 2015 NAIA National Champion in the 4x800 relay, Herbert was an All-America selection in the outdoor 400-meter run and 4x800 relay as a junior. She has earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete recognition and claimed four All-America distinctions in her career.
Opp, who is from Ireton, Iowa, has a 4.00 G.P.A. in health human performance. Opp was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® first team after being named to the second team a year ago. Opp earned a berth at the NAIA Track and Field Championships in the marathon with a time of 1:24.63 in a half marathon. Her time was the second fastest recorded in the NAIA this season. She also met the qualification standard in the 10,000 meters and ran at the 2014 NAIA Cross Country Championships and finished 35th in a time of 18.41.30 on the 5,000-meter course. Opp claimed eight place in the 5,000 meters at the NAIA Indoor National Championship.
Joining Bos, DeVries, Fakler, Herbert, Opp, Rolland, and Staker on the Academic All-America® first team are
seniors Maria Bernard of the University of British Columbia, Karen Ettleman of Northwestern (Iowa) College, and
Brittany Murray of Cornerstone University.
The 10-member Academic All-America® second team includes
sophomores Marina LeVine and Maite Moscoso of Embry-Riddle (Fla.), junior Ashley Bell of Concordia (Calif.) University, sophomore Kelly Elizabeth Collins of Westmont College, junior Talitha Fagen of Eastern Oregon, junior Jane Hawks of Taylor University, senior Hannah Lentz of College of Idaho, junior Lindsey Martin of Columbia (Mo.) College and
senior Julie Oosterhouse of Cornerstone.
The average G.P.A. of the Academic All-America® women’s first team is a 3.85 with three student-athletes carrying a perfect 4.00 G.P.A.
Men's Track & Field/XC College Division Team
In addition to Roelle, there are four other repeat selections on the Academic All-America® Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country teams, including
seniors Conner Carpenter of Wayland Baptist University, Eric Ghelfi of Southern Oregon University, Alec Hernandez of Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and
Jordan Reeher of Concordia (Ore.) University.
A three-time Academic All-America® pick,
Carpenter moved onto the first team after earning second team notice in each of the last two years. A native of Farwell, Texas, he carries a 3.97 G.P.A. in international missions and biology. Honored as the Wayland Baptist Top Male Student-Athlete in 2014, he was honored as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete. He finished in fifth place as a sophomore in the high jump at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.
Ghelfi, who earned a spot on the Academic All-America® second team last year, is a native of Redding, California, who has earned a 3.85 G.P.A. while studying psychology. For the second straight year, he earned All-America honors at the NAIA Cross Country Championships after placing ninth in the 8,000-meter event with a time of 25 minutes, 15.8 seconds. He also posted a seventh place finish in the 10,000-meter run in the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, claiming All-America distinction for the second straight year.
A two-time first team Academic All-America® honoree,
Hernandez is a native of North Canton, Ohio who has earned a 3.72 G.P.A. in aeronautics. He has earned four NAIA All-America selections in track & field and earned third place in the distance medley relay at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a senior. The conference champion in the 1,500-meter run as a senior, he posted five top-five efforts during cross country season this year.
Reeher, who is a native of Prineville, Oregon, received a nod to the second team for the second year in a row. A business administration major with a 3.71 G.P.A., Reeher captured his fourth straight CCC title in the 400-meter hurdles with a meet record time of 52.62 seconds. He has earned All-America honors six times and holds the school record in the 400-meter hurdles.
The remaining members of the Academic All-America® first team include
Alain Dixon of Indiana Tech, Matt Goodwin of College of Idaho, Mitch Heller of Friends University, Zachary Kraus and Kameron Turner of Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Travis Mabe of Cornerstone and
Ben Thorne of British Columbia.
The nine-member second team includes
seniors Paul Cave of Clarke, Zach Ely of Dakota State University, Ryan Giesemann of St. Ambrose University, Logan Hovland of Northwestern (Iowa) and
Jay Welp of Morningside College along with
junior Griffin Elbert of Marian (Ind.) University and
sophomores Matt Hall of Taylor and Sam Wensink of Dordt.
The average G.P.A. on the 2014-15 Academic All-America Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country teams is a 3.78 with two student-athletes carrying a perfect 4.00 G.P.A.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College (
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu) (706) 379-5106
Academic All-America ® Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications
Eric Rhew, University of North Carolina Wilmington (
rhewe@uncw.edu) (910) 962-3252
Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity