Senior cross country and track & field student-athlete Katie Hansen () continues to add to her list of accolades as she was voted first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII (College Division) for the second straight year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), announced Thursday by the national organization.
Hansen, the 2009 Seattle University Female Student-Athlete of the Year, finished her collegiate cross country career in grand fashion, winning both the Pier Park Invitational and the Beaver Classic. During the indoor track and field season, she set school records in the mile run (4:55.68), the 3000 meter run (9:56.51), and the 5000 meter run (16:57.17).
Hansen holds the distinction of being the last student-athlete to compete in an NCAA Division II Championship event, as she finished 11th in the 3000 meter run at the 2008 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She was the team’s top finisher in every cross country meet she competed in over the past three seasons, and she leaves the university as one of the top distance runners in school history.
Currently carrying a 3.93 grade point average, Hansen will receive her Bachelor of Science degree in biology at ’s Commencement Ceremonies on June 14 at KeyArena. She will move across the country to attend graduate school at the of at , where she will also use her final year of eligibility in indoor and outdoor track and field after missing the 2007 season with an injury.
Hansen becomes the sixth student-athlete to earn Academic All-District honors during the 2008-09 academic year, joining soccer players Kate Edstrom, Chris Hodges, and Maria Madeira, basketball player Austen Powers, and softball player Jamie Foote. Hansen is now eligible to join Edstrom and Foote as Academic All-America selections.
The Academic All-America Teams program honors over 800 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the and .
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average 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. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.