Complete USTFCCCA Scholar Team (.pdf) | Complete USTFCCCA All-Academic Team (.pdf)
NEW ORLEANS -- The Baldwin Wallace University Division III Women's National Champion Track and Field Team has been honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with its first-ever Indoor Track and Field Scholar Team of the Year award and 13-time All-American Melanie Winters '16 (Stow/ Stow-Munroe Falls) garners her first as well as the school's first-ever Division III Indoor Scholar Female Athlete of the Year accolade.
In order to be in the running for Scholar Team of the Year, a team must finish highly at the respective national championship and have at least a 3.10 cumulative team grade point average (GPA). Scholar Athletes of the Year were selected as the highest finishing performers at the NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field National Championship events and who achieved All-Academic status. Those who won multiple individual championship titles ranked higher in the tie-breaking process and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker.
The women's indoor track and field team won the school's first-ever Division III indoor national championship and finished the 2015-2016 academic year with a 3.26 team cumulative GPA. The BW women also were the Division III national runner-up outdoors.
Winters, who was a first-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division III Track & Field Academic All-American, carried a 3.479 GPA in creative writing and was a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection. She helped guide BW to the indoor championship by winning the national title in the long jump and placing fourth in the high jump. Winters and the Yellow Jackets missed winning the outdoor title by one point as she won national titles in the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash. Winters ends her illustrious career as a 12-time Ohio Athletic Conference indoor champion, 12-time OAC outdoor champion and the holder of 13 BW indoor and outdoor records. She also owns eight OAC Championship records and was a four-time OAC Most Valuable Performer and three-time USTFCCCA Division III Great Lakes Regional Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
In addition to the Winters, four other women's student-athletes were honored as USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals. CoSIDA All-American and NCAA Division III indoor All-American Erin Kasper '17 (Amherst/ Marion Steele), OAC champion thrower Maggey Urban '16 (Cleveland/ St. Joseph Academy), OAC champion thrower Kasey Clouse '17 (Norwalk/ Western Reserve) and multi-event athlete Rachel Holowecky '17 (Amherst/Firelands).
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team, the student athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.3 and have met at least one of the following athletic standards: Competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship or finished the regular season ranked in the national Top-35 in an individual event or ranked in the national Top-25 in a relay event.
"These awards are the capstone to a fantastic 2016 season by our women's track and field program," said first-year Head Coach Matthew Cole, who was named as the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Coach of the Year. "This is a terrific honor for our teams and we plan to continue to build upon our successes to hold ourselves to the highest levels possible, both academically and athletically."
BW opens the 2017 indoor season on Saturday, January 14 when it travels to Alliance for a dual meet against the University of Mount Union in the Peterson Fieldhouse. The Yellow Jackets host the first of three home indoor meets with the Dr. William Taraschke Classic on Friday, January 27 on the Harrison Dillard Track inside the Lou Higgins Center Fieldhouse. BW is also the host for the 2017 OAC Indoor Track and Field Championships on February 24-25.
