CALIFORNIA (Feb. 26) – California University of Pennsylvania freshman
Erin Kling (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) and graduate student
Clare McSweeney (Cork, Ireland/St. Aloysius) were named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team announced the organization on Friday.
Kling and McSweeney are the first female Vulcans to earn the cross country academic honor in recent program history.
Kling was one of only 31 runners on the list to post a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) at the end of the fall semester. She posted the top time for the Vulcans in six events during the fall and was the top freshman finisher in a field of 152 runners at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. A native of Jamestown, N.Y., Kling was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Freshman of the Year and will be competing this weekend in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter run at the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
McSweeney was one of the top runners for Cal U at the end of the season, finishing third on the team at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. In her first year with the program, she also finished fourth on the Vulcans at the PSAC Championships. McSweeney enters this weekend’s PSAC Indoor Championships as the second seed in the 800-meter run and is a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The PSAC led all conferences with 43 student-athletics on the All-Academic list. A total of 286 female cross country runners received All-Academic honors, representing 106 schools from across the nation.
To qualify for All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least 12 semester/quarter hours through the semester of competition at the institution to be eligible. The student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA and have placed in the top 30 percent of total number of athletes eligible to compete at the respective regional championships or have placed in the top 50 percent of the field at the NCAA Division II Championships.