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

NEW ORLEANS — Molly Seidel of Notre Dame, Courtney Frerichs of New Mexico and Lexi Weeks of Arkansas have been named the Female Scholar Athletes of the Year in NCAA Division I Track & Field for the 2015-16 season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Thursday.

Combining their accomplishments in the classroom and in competition during the recently completed academic year, these three women were the most exceptional among a group of 910 women who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

QUICK LINKS: USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic Team | PDF Release

Scholar Athletes of the Year were selected as the highest finishing performers at the NCAA Division I Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships who achieved All-Academic status. Those who won individual championship titles ranked higher in the tie-breaking process and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker.

Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes for the indoor and outdoor season for a total of four categories, but Weeks swept both field awards, giving us three.

Weeks, a freshman majoring in Chemistry, owned a perfect 4.0 GPA during her first collegiate campaign. The native of Cabot, Arkansas, is the second Razorback pole vaulter in a row to be named Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year (Sandi Morris did so last year) and first Arkansas athlete to be named Outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. Weeks had a freshman year to remember as she swept the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles with jumps of 4.63m (15-2¼) and 4.50m (14-9), respectively.

Seidel, a senior majoring in Anthropology with a supplementary major in Arts & Letters Pre-Health, had a cumulative GPA of 3.545. The Hartland, Wisconsin native is the first female athlete from Notre Dame to be named Indoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year. Seidel was a double winner at the NCAA Indoor meet, capturing titles at 3000 meters (8:57.86, a near seven-second win) and 5000 meters (15:15.21, a near eight-second win).

Frerichs, a senior from Nixa, Missouri, earned a cumulative GPA of 3.85 on a 4.0 scale. Her actual GPA is 4.17 on a 4.3 scale. Frerichs only had one season of track eligibility left and turned in a magical season in which she broke the collegiate steeplechase record with her time of 9:24.41 and won the NCAA title.

All-Academic Individuals

Including the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 910 women from 192 institutions earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors during the 2015-16 track & field season.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team, the student athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have met at least one of the following athletic standards:

• For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.
• For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).

Minnesota and Stanford finished tied with the most individuals named USTFCCCA All-Academic with 23. Penn State trailed further behind with 18, North Dakota State had 16 and Oklahoma rounded out the top-5 with 15.