FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Complete USTFCCCA Release

July 30, 2010 - The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its women's All-Academic Award winners for the 2010 season on Friday. North Central College athletes Annie Adamson, Lauren Brightmore, Samantha Bunsen, Michelle Criscione, Amanda Laesch and Melissa Savino each made the list in recognition of their athletic and academic success.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met either the NCAA Division III Indoor or Outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard in their respective event. 

In total, 330 student-athletes from 99 institutions were honored. Six of the eight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin teams had athletes earn All-Academic honors. North Central and Illinois Wesleyan University led the way with six selections each, while Millikin University had two honorees and Augustana College, Carthage College and North Park University each had one.

Brightmore, Criscione and Savino are now each three-time recipients of All-Academic accolades in track and field, while Adamson and Bunsen are honored for the second time. Laesch, a three-time All-Academic selection in cross country, is honored in track and field for the first time.

Adamson provisionally qualified for the Division III Indoor National Championships in the triple jump, uncorking a personal best of 37 feet, 6 inches at the Cardinal Classic on Feb. 20. The performance established a new North Central indoor record.

Brightmore qualified for the indoor national championships in the 400-meter dash, clocking a time of 57.40 seconds at the CCIW Indoor Championships Feb. 27. Her time of 57.82 in the preliminary heats at the national meet was 12th-fastest among the 18 competitors. She also provisionally qualified for the outdoor championships in the 400 (56.73) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:55.71). Brightmore currently ranks second in school history in the 400, both indoors and outdoors.

Bunsen also competed on the 4x400 relay with Brightmore, which placed first at the CCIW Outdoor Championships. Bunsen turned in a time of 1:06.20 in the 400-meter hurdles to place fourth in the CCIW and move up to seventh on the Cardinals' all-time list in the event.

Criscione cleared 5'6 1/2" in the high jump to qualify for the Division III indoor championships, where she placed 13th overall. She also qualified for the outdoor championships and placed fifth, earning her second All-America certificate. She is a five-time national championships qualifier and six-time CCIW high jump champion, and currently ranks third in school history both indoors and outdoors.

Laesch earned provisional qualifying marks outdoors in both the 5,000 (17:22.46) and 10,000-meter runs (37:13.87), establishing a new North Central outdoor record in the 5,000 to add to the indoor record she has held in the same event since 2007. She currently ranks fourth in school history in the 10,000. Laesch won an indoor CCIW title in the 3,000-meter run this season and won both the 5,000 and the 10,000 at the CCIW Outdoor Championships.

Savino established a new North Central record of 3,142 points in the indoor pentathlon to qualify for the Division III indoor championships, where she placed 12th. She also set a new school record in the heptathlon outdoors, posting a personal-best total of 4,215 points which provisionally qualified her for the outdoor championships. She is a four-time national championships qualifier.

North Central's women's track and field team has had 25 All-Academic selections since the USTFCCCA instituted the program in 2005.