NEW ORLEANS – Three Baldwin Wallace University women's cross country student-athletes along with the entire women's cross country team have been honored by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with Division III All-Academic honors.
Sophomore All-Great Lakes Region and All-Ohio Athletic Conference runner Bella Pendola (Warsaw/River View), freshman All-OAC runner Hastings Marek (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) and freshman All-Great Lakes Region runner Madison Kile (North Canton/Hoover) are three of the 668 Division III student athletes to be recognized this year.
To be eligible for this distinction, individuals must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher and have finished in the top 25 percent of their respective regional championship meet.
"We are really proud of our group for these awards," head coach Joe Eby said. "It's exciting to see their hard work on the course and in the classroom pay off."
Pendola is a neuroscience and psychology double major who carries a 3.67 GPA and earned her first Academic All-OAC honor this fall. She had a breakout sophomore campaign in which she brought home her first individual title at the Hornet Harrier Invitational, hosted by Shenandoah (Va.) University, and her first OAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week award. Pendola also earned All-Ohio honors with a fourth place finish at the 2017 Division III All-Ohio Championships; earned second-team All-OAC honors with an 11th place finish at the 2017 OAC Championships; and earned All-Great Lakes Region honors with a 32nd place finish at the 2017 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships.
Marek is an applied mathematics major who carries a 3.75 GPA. During her freshman season, Marek earned All-Ohio honors by placing 34th at the All-Ohio Championship meet and earned second-team All-OAC honors with an 18th place finish at the OAC Championships.
Kile is an engineering major who carries a 3.98 GPA. Kile earned All-Ohio honors with a 29th place finish at the All-Ohio Championships and All-Great Lakes Region honors by placing 34th at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional during her freshman season.
The women's team also earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors with a 3.52 cumulative GPA. For a team to be eligible, it must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional meet and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.10 on a 4.0 scale.
All three student athletes are members of the BW track and field team which will be back in action on Saturday, February 17, to compete at the Raider Tune Up, hosted by the University of Mount Union inside the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
