Mecke, Roberts Named to Track and Field/Cross Country Academic All-District VI First Team
FRISCO, Texas ? Southeastern Louisiana junior Cory Roberts and UTSA junior Dana Mecke have been named to the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine 2009 Academic All-District VI University Division Track and Field/Cross Country First Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Thursday.
The two student-athletes are among seven Southland Conference representatives that have been named to the men’s first and women’s first and second teams. Roberts and Mecke now advance to the next round of national balloting to compete for a spot on the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Team.
The Southland Conference’s only representative on the men’s team, Roberts posted a 3.84 grade-point average (GPA) as a biological sciences major while starring as a heptathlete and decathlete for the Lions’ track and field team. The Meraux, La., native, and two-time first-team Academic All-District VI pick placed second overall in the heptathlon at the Southland Indoor Championships in Houston in February, losing out on the overall title by just 21 points to UTSA’s Tommy Wolfe. Roberts exacted his revenge at the outdoor meet in Nacogdoches last month when he bested a very talented field by 241 points in the decathlon.
Mecke, who like Roberts was also a first-team selection as a sophomore, this year was named the Southland Conference/Capital One Bank Student-Athlete of the Year for both the cross country and indoor track and field seasons. A native of Bulverde, Texas, Mecke has a 3.95 GPA in mechanical engineering. She captured the cross country conference championship in the fall when she trekked the 6,000-meter course in 21:39 and later placed 23rd at the NCAA South Central Regional, the best regional finish by a UTSA runner in 12 years. During the indoor season, Mecke captured the league title in the mile and 800 while finishing with a second-best 23 individual points.
Joining Mecke on the women’s Academic All-District VI were five second-team selections, including Nicholls State senior Leslie Bourgeois, Texas State juniors Heather Bullin, Jannah Evans and Katie Evans and Southeastern Louisiana sophomore Dorcus Kapkiai.
A first-time Academic All-District VI honoree, Bourgeois will become the first Nicholls State student-athlete to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships when the event gets started next on June 10 in Fayetteville, Ark. In addition to earning a 3.37 GPA as a human performance and education major, the Raceland, La., native, captured the 2009 conference title in the javelin, her second in three years, and placed fourth at the Mideast Regional to advance to Fayetteville.
Texas State’s junior trio is also earning their first respective Academic All-District VI honors. Bullin, a native of Cedar Park, Texas, is a distance specialist and holds a 3.92 GPA with a major in exercise and sports science. She placed sixth in the 5,000 and fifth in the 10,000 at the conference outdoor meet. Also an exercise and sports science major, Jannah Evans, a native of Cedar Park, Texas, has a 3.72 GPA and ninth- and 10th-place performances at the conference indoor and outdoor championships, respectively, to her credit. A native of Helotes, Texas, Katie Evans has a 3.55 GPA in international studies, and she is a qualifier for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor National Championships in the high jump.
A native of Eldoret, Kenya, Kapkiai has a 3.67 GPA in general studies and is among the Lions’ top distance specialists. This fall she captured seventh place with a time of 22:31 at the Southland cross country championships and in the spring placed fifth in the 5,000 and fourth in the 10,000 at the conference outdoor championships.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
The Academic All-District VI University Division teams is comprised of student-athletes from all Division I schools in the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution.
Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the position listed on the nomination form. No student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility. In the cases of transfers, graduate students and two-year college graduates, the student-athlete must have completed one full calendar year at the nominating institution to be eligible.