June 8, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Nine Patriot League track and field/cross country student-athletes have been honored for their academic and athletic performance with a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, as selected and announced by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Bucknell had four representatives and Navy had a pair on the District II team, while Army had three honorees on the District I squad.

The Bison placed senior Kevin MacLeod and junior Jonathan Lockhart on the District II men's first team, while senior Gillian Nordquist was a first-team selection on the women's side and senior Megan Hathaway was selected to the second team. MacLeod earned his second consecutive Academic All-District spot after recently graduating with a 3.62 grade point average as a structural civil engineering major. He was a back-to-back Patriot League champion in the outdoor 400 meter hurdles. Lockhart completed his junior season with a 3.79 GPA while majoring in computer science engineering and minoring in biomedial engineering and math. Nordquist has a 3.9 cumuluative grade point average as a Spanish and English/Creative Writing major, and joins MacLeod by making the team for the second straight year. Hathaway recently graduated with a 3.69 grade point average as a sociology major with a concentration in human services and minor in African American studies and education. She was a two-time winner of the indoor 500 meter event at the Patriot League Championship, and also claimed the League title in the outdoor 800 this season.

Army's three honorees were all named to the first team, with Andy Ferrara and Kevin Kumlien on the men's side and Annie Taft on the women's list. Ferrara won the Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year honor, and the junior carries a 3.55 grade point average as an economics major. Kumlien earns an All-District spot for the second straight year, as the senior from Bozeman, Montana holds a 3.83 cumulative grade point average as a management major. Taft is also a management major, and the junior from Medford, New Jersey carries a 3.94 GPA.

Navy's selections were both named to the first team, and were both honored as Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year during the season. Junior Erica Ziel swept the scholar-athlete award on the women's side, becoming the fourth Patriot League student-athlete to win the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field scholar-athlete of the year awards in the same academic year. An oceanography major from Saginaw, Michigan, Ziel carries a 3.81 cumulative grade point average. On the men's side, junior Mark Van Orden earned an Academic All-District honor after receiving the Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in February. Van Orden carries a 3.57 grade point average as an English major, and ranks 27th in military order of merit among his 1,032 classmates. He earned Field Athlete of the Meet honors at the Patriot League Outdoor Championship and competed at the NCAA East Regional for the second straight year.

To be eligible for the Academic All-District team, an athlete must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing, have competed in a standard proportion of their team's meets and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30. Each of the first team selections is eligible for national Academic All-America recognition. The men's Academic All-America team will be released on Thursday, June 18 while the women's squad will be announced the next day.