June 20, 2012

Breese named CoSIDA Academic All-America

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Grove City College junior cross country/track and field performer Mary Kate Breese (Mercer, Pa./Mercer) earned Second Team Division III Academic All-America from Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Tuesday afternoon through voting by the nation's sports information director.

Breese becomes the fifth Grove City student-athlete to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors this year.

A two-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District selection, Breese earned First Team All-Presidents' Athletic Conference in cross country in both 2009 and 2011 and captured Second Team All-PAC in 2010. Last fall, she finished fifth overall at the conference championships.

In 2010, Breese helped the women's cross country program earn its first-ever invitation to the NCAA Division III Championships after Grove City placed fifth at the NCAA Mideast Championships. Grove City again finished fifth at the Mideast Championships in 2011. Individually, Breese took 63rd at this year's regional meet.

Breese earned her first track and field letter this spring after competing as a distance specialist. She finished third in both the 5000 and 10,000 at the PAC Championships in Beaver Falls, Pa., April 27-28. Breese also qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in the 5000 and took eighth May 18 in Troy, N.Y.

An accounting/finance major, Breese has earned a 4.00 cumulative grade-point average. She has been named to the Dean's List along with the conference's Academic Honor Roll. Breese has also earned the College's Presidential and Trustee Scholarships.

Breese is the first Grove City women's track and field athlete and second women's cross country runner to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America. In 2006, Elisa Pedersen became the first women's cross country runner at Grove City to achieve Academic All-America distinction.

Earlier this month, senior tennis player Megan Bennett (Poland, Ohio/Poland) and junior swimmer Angela Palumbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) both earned Second Team Academic All-America earlier this month. Senior men's soccer players Tim Boswell (Jonesborough, Tenn./Providence Academy) and Brian Eckenhoff (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) also earned CoSIDA Academic All-America distinction in November.

Grove City's five Academic All-Americans are the most ever for the College in an academic year.

All-time, Grove City has produced 38 Academic All-Americans, including 21 since 2002. Those 21 Academic All-Americans have accounted for 27 total Academic All-America honors. Grove City has at least one Academic All-American in each of the last 10 academic years.

The 2011-12 academic year marks the first year that CoSIDA has based its Academic All-America program on individual divisions within college athletics. Currently, CoSIDA honors student-athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, along with a "College" division that includes NAIA institutions and junior colleges. Prior to this year, the College Division included NCAA Divisions II and III, as well as NAIA schools.  

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