All-Academic Individuals & Scholar Athletes of the Year – 2018 NCAA DI Women’s Track & Field

NEW ORLEANS – Karissa Schweizer of Missouri, Lexi Jacobus of Arkansas, Allie Ostrander of Boise State and Keturah Orji of Georgia were named the Women’s Scholar Athletes of the Year in NCAA Division I Track & Field on Thursday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Combining their accomplishments in the classroom and in competition during the recently completed academic year, these four women were the most exceptional among a group of 874 women who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

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 athletes who won individual NCAA titles ranked higher in the tie-breaking process and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final advantage.

Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes for the indoor and outdoor seasons, hence the four categories.

Schweizer and Jacobus were bestowed with the respective honors from the indoor season, while Ostrander and Orji captured those from the outdoor campaign.

Schweizer, who graduated with a degree in Health Sciences and earned a cumulative GPA of 3.41, repeats as Women’s Indoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year and is the first to do so since Abbey D’Agostino in 2013 and 2014. The native of Urbandale, Iowa, had an indoor season for the record books as she swept the distance slate clean and recorded several all-time marks throughout the season. Schweizer captured both the 3000- and 5000-meter crowns.

Jacobus, who is a junior majoring in Biochemistry with a cumulative GPA of 4.00, was named the Women’s Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. The native of Cabot, Arkansas, won the indoor pole vault title with a mark of 4.66m (15-3½), which also doubled as the meet record. This is the second Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year honor for Jacobus as she also won in 2016.

Ostrander, who is a junior majoring in Kinesiology with a cumulative GPA of 4.00, repeats as the Women’s Outdoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year and is the first to do so since Abbey D’Agostino in 2012 and 2013. The native of Kenai, Alaska, repeated as the steeplechase champion with a time of 9:39.28. She also earned First-Team All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the 5000.

Orji, who graduated with a degree in Financial Planning with a GPA of 3.97, earned her third career Women’s Outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year award. She also nabbed this honor in 2015 and 2017. Orji ruled the runway at the NCAA Championships in June as she won both the long jump and triple jump for 20 total points and helped the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish in the team standings.

All-Academic Individuals

Including the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 880 women earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors during the 2017-18 track & field seasons.

To qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, 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).

BYU had the most individuals honored with 21.

There were 64 women who earned a cumulative GPA of 4.0 or better.