June 1, 2006

Four earn Academic All-District

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Four Grove City College student-athletes earned Academic All-District II College Division honors for track and field and cross country Thursday morning from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and ESPN The Magazine.

Senior women's cross country runner Elisa Pedersen (Santa Rosa, Calif./Montgomery) and junior cross country/track and field performer Andrew Leuenberger (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) each earned First Team All-District honors from the region's sports information directors.

Junior distance runner Cara Pierce (Ogdensburg, N.Y./Canton Central) and junior thrower Sarah Bray (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) each earned Second Team honors.

Pedersen twice earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. She placed 27th overall in 2005 after finishing 22nd as a junior in 2004. She also earned NCAA All-Mideast Region recognition in each of her four seasons. Pedersen also won the Presidents' Athletic Conference's individual championship in each of her four seasons at Grove City, helping the Wolverines to four straight PAC titles.

Pedersen earned Grove City's Sportswoman of the Year May 6 at the College's Recognition Convocation. She graduated May 20 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and Spanish. She earned Dean's List honors in all eight semesters and made the PAC's Academic Honor Roll four times. Pedersen earned Second Team Academic All-District from CoSIDA in 2005.

Pedersen also earned induction into the Alpha Mu Gamma (foreign language), Delta Mu Delta (business administration) and Operation Top Management (business) honoraries. She graduated with a 3.81 cumulative grade-point average.

Leuenberger is a three-year letterman for Grove City's track and field and cross country teams. In 2006, he helped the men's track team to its second straight PAC title April 29 by placing third in the 5000 and fifth in the 10,000. As a sophomore, Leuenberger achieved First Team All-PAC in cross country with a fourth-place finish overall. He has helped Grove City to three straight PAC cross country titles during his career.

In the classroom, Leuenberger owns a 3.99 cumulative GPA in molecular biology. He has been inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board honoraries as well as the Beta Beta Beta biology honorary. Leuenberger is also president of Grove City's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is secretary of the conference's SAAC.

Leuenberger is also president of the College's chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is a Presidential Scholarship recipient is involved with the Habitat for Humanity program.

Pierce is receiving her second straight All-District honor. She also earned Second Team status in 2005 as a sophomore. She is a three-year cross country letterwinnner and a two-time track and field letterwinner. She has been part of five PAC title teams in her career at Grove City.

Pierce earned First Team All-PAC honors in cross country in both 2004 and 2005 after earning Second Team distinction in 2003.

In the classroom, Pierce owns a 3.95 cumulative GPA while majoring in both English and Spanish. She is a five-time Dean's List honoree and has been named to the PAC Academic Honor Roll five times. She is also a Presidential Scholarship recipient. Pierce studied in Costa Rica during the spring 2006 semester.

Bray is a three-year track and field letterwinner and a two-year team captain. She won the PAC javelin title April 29 at the 2006 PAC Championships and also finished fourth in the discus. Bray also qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in the javelin.

She is a six-time Dean's List selection and has been named to the PAC Academic Honor Roll three times. She is also a member of Mortar Board and is a Presidential Scholarship recipient. A business management major, Bray owns a 3.90 cumulative GPA.

Leuenberger and Pedersen now advance to the national Academic All-America ballot. The All-America team will be announced in late June.

District II includes all non-NCAA Division I colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. To be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 or higher cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or significant reserve.

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