To be named to the academic team, honorees must have a minimum cumulative 3.2 grade point average and must have participated in at least 50 percent of their team's contests. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence were not eligible for this year's award.
Seattle University placed 18 student-athletes, seven men and 11 women, on the team who competed in both indoor and outdoor track this year. Seniors Nicholas Alvarado (San Francisco, Calif.), Mara Becker (Fairbanks, Alaska), Lindsay Currier (Beaverton, Ore.), Greta Stickney (Poulsbo, Wash.), and Rachel Yorkston (Bellingham, Wash.) led the way for the Redhawks.
Also earning academic all-conference honors were juniors Christopher Fussell (Las Vegas, Nev.), Hans Heitzinger (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Clare Obradovich (Tigard, Ore.), Allison Prather (Carpinteria, Calif.), Becca Urbany (Damascus, Ore.), Michael Van Nuland (Newcastle, Wash.), and Elizabeth Wolf (Albuquerque, N.M.). Sophomores Erik Barkhaus (Whitefish Bay, Wis.), Sarah Bolce (Sacramento, Calif.), Elena Collins (Eugene, Ore.), Ashley Dalton (Bellingham, Wash.), Jabari Fraser (Bethesda, Md.), and Tom Mezzera (San Francisco, Calif.) were also honored by the conference.
Senior Alec Adams (Woodway, Wash.) and sophomore Ty Jaros (Eugene, Ore.) received academic all-conference honors after competing in the indoor track season. For competing during the outdoor track campaign, junior Erin Moon (Honolulu, Hawaii) and sophomores Celeste Cassidy (Bellingham, Wash.) and Matthew McClement (Bellingham, Wash.) were included among the honorees.
In all, 128 Great West Conference track and field student-athletes were named to the team. Utah Valley earned the most honorees with 27, with Seattle University tied with North Dakota and South Dakota with 23 selections apiece.
"There is no question that we have quality students in the Great West," Ed Grom, Commissioner of the Great West Conference, said. "The drive and determination of our Great West student-athletes today, with so many distractions and other options at their fingertips, is very inspiring. I am proud of our academic all-conference honorees who are all winners in sport and life."
The Seattle University athletic department will begin Year Three of the four-year reclassification process towards Division I membership on August 1, 2010. Part of the department's mission statement in action is "to create an athletic culture where student-athletes can realize balanced success in academics, athletics, and in all their collegiate pursuits and experiences."