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

USTFCCCCA All-Academic Selections

Aug. 5, 2011 - Five members of the North Central College men's track and field team have been honored with All-Academic accolades by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), matching the largest single-season group of award winners in the program's history.

Heading the list is sophomore pole vaulter Peter Geraghty, who received the selection for the second straight year and was named the National NCAA Division III Outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. Geraghty is the first North Central student-athlete to win one of the USTFCCCA's national academic awards since their inception in 2007.

Geraghty claimed Division III All-America honors indoors and outdoors in 2011, placing second at the Division III Indoor Championships with a personal-best clearance of 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches, before winning the pole vault championship outdoors to claim the 38th individual national championship in the Cardinals' history.

Also earning All-Academic honors for the Cardinals are sophomore jumper Zachariah Heerspink, sophomore distance runner Dan Kerley, sophomore pole vaulter Josh Winder and junior pole vaulter John Wood .

Heerspink was also honored for the second straight year. He qualified for national-championship competition indoors and outdoors in the high jump, placing sixth at the indoor championships to earn All-America honors for the first time. Winder also received All-Academic honors for the second straight year after collecting a pair of All-America certificates. Winder placed seventh at the indoor championships and fourth at the outdoor nationals in the pole vault.

Kerley earned his first All-Academic accolades after qualifying for the indoor championships in the 5,000-meter run and participating in the outdoor championships in the 10,000-meter run. Kerley placed fifth in the 10,000 to receive his first All-America certificate, and also received Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Wood qualified for both the indoor and outdoor national championships in the pole vault for the third straight year, placing sixth at the outdoor meet to collect All-America honors for the fourth time.

The five Cardinals were among 200 Division III All-Academic honorees from 72 institutions. A total of 19 representatives of College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) teams made the list; North Central's five selections matched Augustana College and Illinois Wesleyan University for the most from any CCIW member.

The Cardinals won the NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Team National Championships for the second straight season in 2011, bringing North Central's championship total to nine (six outdoor, three indoor).