College Sports Information Directors of America

2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Track & Field/Cross Country Men's & Women's Teams release dates:
College Division Teams:   below                              
NCAA Division III Teams:  Wed., June 22
NCAA Division II Teams:   Thurs., June 23
NCAA Division I Teams:    Fri., June 24

• Academic All-America® website

• Academic All-America® Track & Field/Cross Country Teams - College Division
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AUSTIN, Texas – Junior Leah Esposito of Carroll College and senior Dixon Cooney of McPherson College headline the 2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-America® College Division Track & Field/Cross Country Teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® College Division Track & Field/Cross Country Teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
 

Esposito has been named as the 2015-16 Academic All-America® of the Year for College Division women’s track & field/cross country while Cooney has been selected as the 2015-16 Academic All-America® of the Year for College Division men’s track & field and cross country.
 
The 2016 NAIA indoor national champion in the mile, Esposito is a native of Clancy, Montana, with a 4.00 G.P.A. in biology. She has earned All-America honors 16 times in her career and capped it off with her final one during the outdoor season in leading the Carroll 4x800 relay team to fourth at outdoor nationals. Honored as the NAIA's 2015 A.O. Duer Award winner, Esposito hopes to attend veterinary school after graduation.
 
Cooney was named the 2015-16 McPherson College Male Athlete of the Year. He earned All-American honors in the mile during the indoor season and qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in the fall. The Loveland, Colorado, native earned a 4.00 G.P.A. in mathematics while also earning academic honors in the KCAC and NAIA.
 
Jane Hawks from Taylor University is the lone student-athlete to make the list two years in a row as she earned first team honors in 2015-16 after being named to the second team as a junior. The senior from Rockford, Michigan, boasted a 4.00 G.P.A in elementary education. Hawks' teammate from Taylor, Alex Berends is the lone sophomore on the first team as she earned a 3.95 G.P.A. in political science, philosophy, economics and international studies. The Trojan duo were joined by Haley White who made the second team to give the Crossroads League school three All-American honorees.
 
Brianna Woods from Indiana Institute of Technology headlines the team in terms of national success as the junior sprinter won the national title in the 100 and 200-meter and anchored the 4x100 relay team to a first place finish in the outdoor championships in May.
 
Joining Esposito, Hawks and Woods on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team are seniors Kayla Byl of Dordt College, Stephanie Coley and Kim Wood of Concordia (Neb.) University and Rachel Cundy of Lewis-Clark State College. Two juniors in addition to Woods and Esposito made the first team in Marissa DeWispelare of Doane College and Dordt's Justine Van Zee.
 
The 10-member CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team includes sophomore Monique McPherson of Wayland Baptist University, juniors Michelle Fletcher of Northwest Christian University, Lyndee Dawson of Biola Univertsity and Kelsey Lewis of Dordt as well as seniors Nicole Falkenstein and Anika Gasner of Biola, Breanna Fye of Doane, Brooke Johnson of University of St. Francis (Ill.), Ruth Lewinski of College of Idaho and Haley White of Taylor.
 
Three different student-athletes amongst the 20 honored boasted a 4.00 G.P.A and this year saw five sophomores or juniors recognized on the first time after seeing zero in 2014-15. The average G.P.A. of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® women's first team was 3.87.
 
In addition to Cooney, five other male student-athletes were repeaters on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® team. They were Connor Carpenter of Wayland Baptist, Alain Dixon of Indiana Tech, Matt Goodwin of College of Idaho, Matt Hall of Taylor and Samuel Wensink of Dordt.
 
Carpenter’s selection makes it four years in a row for the graduate student from Farwell, Texas, as the international missions and biology major has earned numerous academic honors over the last four years, including Wayland Baptist's Male Scholar-Athlete Award in 2014 and 2016 for having the highest GPA among WBU student-athletes.
 
Dixon, who is a repeat first team selection from 2014-15, helped guide the Warriors’ to a national title in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The Oswego, Illinois, native finished off his 2015-16 campaign with a seventh place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 14.68 meters. A criminal justice major, Dixon completed his junior campaign with a 3.58 G.P.A.
 
Goodwin joins Dixon as a repeat first team selection from a year ago as Goodwin earned the nod with a 3.98 G.P.A. in biology. The senior from Meridian, Idaho, placed fourth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference championships in the 10,000-meter run.
 
Hall, who earned second team honors in 2014-15, The Crete, Illinois, native owns a 3.85 GPA in computer science through his junior year, is a five-time NAIA All-American and a five-time Crossroads League Champion.
 
Wensink, a junior from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was a CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team choice last year. Wensink finished in sixth place at the national championship in the 800 meters and in eighth place at the NAIA indoor championship in the 1,000 meters. Wensink has a 3.92 G.P.A. as an accounting and finance major.
 
The remaining members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team include graduate student Josh Richardson of Mount Vernon Nazarene University, senior Lyle Pocha of Carroll and juniors Tanner Dye of Taylor, and CJ Muller of Concordia (Neb.).
 
The ten-member second team includes seniors Kevin Dunn of Wayland Baptist, Kyle Hall of Indiana University East, Max Hampton of College of Idaho, Brent Kitto of Xavier University and John-Paul Williamson of Lindsey Wilson College as well as juniors Nehemiah Barrett of Lewis-Clark State, Craig Boekenoogen of Wayland Baptist, Will Norris of Northwestern (Iowa) College and Seth Topham of Southwestern (Kan.) College.
 
The average G.P.A. of the CoSIDA Academic All-America(R) men's first team was 3.88.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College (mfmaceachern@yhc.edu)            (706) 379-5106
Academic All-America® Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications
 
Aaron Sagraves, Cornerstone University (aaron.sagraves@cornerstone.edu)   (616) 977-5415
Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity