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March 9, 2009
NEW ORLEANS - Clarion University junior Molly Smathers has earned the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association NCAA Division II All-Academic Award for the 2008 season while helping the Golden Eagles earn their 12th NCAA D-II All-Academic Team Award in the last 13 years. "These are great accomplishments," Clarion's third-year head coach Jayson Resch said. "The primary thing we are looking for when we recruit student-athletes is well-rounded athletes. We want athletes who perform well in the classroom, set goals in competition and are active members of their community. For Molly to earn All-Academic status and for the team to earn the All-Academic Award are all part of the goals we set for ourselves each season." Smathers (Clarion/Clarion Area), a Speech Pathology major with a 3.952 GPA, earns the All-Academic Award for the second straight season. She was the Golden Eagles top cross country athlete this past year finishing 24th at the PSAC Championships and 29th at the Atlantic Region Championships. Smathers is one of only 101 Division II female athletes to earn the award and one of only 243 female athletes regardless of classification to earn the honor. She also was one of 35 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference student-athletes to earn the award, the most among any NCAA Division II conference. "I am proud of Molly," Resch said. "She is one of our leaders and next year will be our primary captain. Her setting examples both on the course and in the classroom are important parts of that leadership." As a team, Clarion had a 3.541 GPA, the 18th best mark in the nation and the fourth-best mark in the PSAC. The Golden Eagles, who were one of only 99 NCAA Division II teams to earn the honor, improved their GPA nearly half a percentage point (0.41) from last season. That helped the Golden Eagles receive the rotating Carlson Cup at the annual "Bob Carlson" Scholar-Athlete Luncheon held in February. The Carlson Cup is presented to the Clarion team that has shown the greatest improvement in grade point average during the last calendar year at the school. "We have always emphasized being good in the classroom," Resch said. "This year, we put even a little bit more emphasis on it as a team, which I think helped us win the Carlson Cup and earn this award as well. It is important for our team to be good academically as well as athletically." NOTES - Clarion's women's cross country team also earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 ... The Golden Eagles have also earned the award in track and field in nine of the past 10 years including six straight seasons. |
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