University of Vermont's Alicia Clark and University of New Hampshire's Laura Rose Donegan were both named Academic All-Americans in women's cross country/track & field by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the organization announced Friday.
Both first-team selections, Clark and Donegan are the seventh and eighth America East student-athletes to earn Academic All-America status this year. They were joined by Albany's Krista Fitzpatrick and Paula Heuser, Hartford's David MacKinnon, Maine's Sigi Koizar and Liz Wood and UMBC's Billy Heavner. MacKinnon and Heavner were also first-team honorees.
Clark, a senior, earned the honor for the second-straight year. She graduated from Vermont with a 3.97 GPA in business administration and was an America East Presidential Scholar.
Donegan, a senior who carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in political science, earned All-America distinction twice, in both cross country and outdoor track & field (3,000-meter steeplechase), this year. She also received the NCAA Elite 90 award at the NCAA Cross Country Championship in November.
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.