Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler with 3.93 Cumulative GPA is the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Division II Cross Country for Third-Straight Year

NEW ORLEANS – Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific has been named as Division II’s female cross country Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2009 season, and for the third-consecutive year, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Friday. Pixler is also among 286 given All-Academic status for the previous cross country season for their efforts in the classroom and on nation’s cross country courses.

2008 Honorees | Award History

Pixler, a senior from Sammanish, Wash., has a 3.93 cumulative GPA and is studying English at SPU. The Scholar-Athlete of the Year award goes to the highest individual finisher from the previous year’s NCAA Cross Country Championship among those given USTFCCCA All-Academic status.

In the fall, Pixler became the first female Division II athlete to win a third individual NCAA cross country championship title, doing so with a seven-plus-second victory over Western Washington junior Sarah Porter. Pixler earned the USTFCCCA National Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year honor for the third-straight year as well.

In addition, Pixler won her fourth-straight NCAA West Regional title. She cruised over the six-kilometer course in a record time of 20:08.09, breaking her previous course record of 20:36.4. Pixler also finished a four-year career sweep of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet in 2009 when the senior ran to a ten-second victory.

Pixler is joined by Falcon teammates Lisa Anderberg, Kate Harline, Jane Larson, Natalie Plunkett, and Suzie Stricker as All-Academic honorees. Seattle Pacific is one of eight schools with six listed. Truman State and Tampa led the nation with seven All-Academic nods.

To qualify for All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least 12 semester/quarter hours through the semester of competition at the institution to be eligible.  The student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and have placed in the top 30% of the total number of athletes eligible to compete at the respective regional championships or have placed in the top 50% of the field at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

The 286 USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees represent 106 schools around the country. The list includes 31 who were reported to have 4.0 GPAs at the end of the 2009 fall semester.

The list also includes seven regional champions, eight who finished in the nation’s top 10, and four of the top five at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) again had the most conference student-athletes on the USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic list with 43 and was followed by the Northeast-10 who placed 36.

The male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Division II was Reuben Mwei of Adams State. Those institutions given All-Academic Team status will be named on Wednesday, March 3 (men) and Thursday, March 4 (women).

USTFCCCA 2009 Division II Cross Country All-Academic Honorees, WOMEN

* Reported having a 4.0 cumulative GPA
^ Scholar-Athlete of the Year