DIII Women’s Track & Field Scholar Athletes of the Year, All-Academic Individuals Announced

NEW ORLEANS – Distance runner Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh and pole vaulter Michelle Favre of Ramapo have been named the Scholar Athletes of the Year for the 2013 Division III track & field season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the association announced Tuesday.

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These two women’s combined academic and athletic accomplishments were distinct among 363 female USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The full breakdown of All-Academic selections can be found below.

Cazzola, a junior education & human servies major with a cumulative 3.395 grade point average, swept the track athlete Scholar Athlete of the Year awards for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The native of Kaukauna, Wis., made history in becoming the first woman in DIII history to win the 800, 1500 and 5000 meter titles at one NCAA outdoor championship meet — winning all three finals in a span of three hours. Indoors she claimed the mile and 5000 meters titles to go along with a distance medley relay title.

She also claimed the award during the cross country season. Cazzola is the first woman to sweep the indoor and outdoor scholar athlete of the year awards since Rachel Anderson of Illinois Wesleyan did so in 2008 — the first year separate awards were given for the two seasons — and the first in Division III history to claim the award in all three seasons including cross country.

Favre, a senior biology major from Saddle Brook, N.J., with a 3.959 cumulative GPA, was the field athlete Scholar Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Her indoor season featured a new Division III indoor record of 13-9¾ (4.21m) in the pole vault en route to an NCAA DIII championship in the event. Her outdoor campaign culminated in another NCAA DIII title.

Not since 2009 has a DIII woman swept both the indoor and outdoor Scholar Athlete of the Year awards, as Favre joins Caitlin Schetter of UW-La Crosse as the only two women in Division III history to accomplish the feat.

Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest in individual events at the most recent NCAA Championships. Those who earn multiple individual championship titles rank higher in the tie-breaking process, and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker to establish a winner. Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes for the indoor and outdoor seasons, resulting in four categories.

Wartburg Tops All-Academic Individuals List with 14 Honorees; WIAC is the Top Conference

Including to the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 363 women from 123 institutions earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for their combined efforts in competition and in the classroom. Outdoor team champion Wartburg is the best-represented school with 14 student-athletes who earned All-Academic honors, followed by MIT with 12, UW-La Crosse with 11 and both UW-Oshkosh and Illinois Wesleyan with 10 each.

The WIAC led all conferences with 55 total selections, and was the only league with multiple teams with double-digit All-Academic selections. The NEWMAC was next with 30, while the NESCAC had 26.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met either of the following athletic standards: a student-athlete must have competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship or finished the regular season ranked in the national top 35 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 25 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.

The full list of All-Academic selections is provided below, arranged alphabetically by team name.