Bersagel and Rutland Named Academic All-District
5/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 29, 2003
Anne Bersagel and Risa Rutland from the Wake Forest women's cross country and track & field teams were picked to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-District III Women's Track/Cross Country University Division Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday.
Bersagel, a sophomore distance runner from Greeley, Colo., earned first team honors while Rutland, a senior distance runner from Houston, Texas, was named to the second team.
To qualify for the Verizon Academic All-District program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore in class, a starter or a significant reserve on their team and have compiled a minimum 3.20 cumulative GPA. The District III team includes student-athletes from North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina and Florida.
The 10 student-athletes selected for the all-District III first team will be placed on the Verizon Academic All-America ballot. Results of the voting for the national Women's Track/Cross Country squad will be announced June 19.
Rutland has earned all-region honors in cross country all three years that she has been at Wake Forest since transferring from Stephen F. Austin in 2000. Placing eighth at the 2002 ACC Cross Country Championships, Rutland added All-ACC honors to go with her All-Southland honors from her freshman year. A Health and Exercise Science major, Rutland is a Dean's List student, an ACC Honor Roll member and was named to the 2003 USTCA Cross Country Academic All-America Team.
Bersagel has qualified for the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field East Regional Championships, which are being held this weekend at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and will be competing in both the 1,500m and the 5,000m with hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships June 11-14 in Sacramento, Calif. She has already automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 10,000m and owns the fourth best time for that event in the nation this season. A two-time All-American, Bersagel picked up her first certificate at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall where she placed 25th and led the Demon Deacons to ninth place as team. She then captured All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with a seventh place finish in the 5,000m. She is a three-time All-ACC selection, earning honors in the indoor 3,000m, outdoor 5,000m and in cross country this year. With a near perfect GPA, Bersagel is majoring in Political Science with a minor in Economics and was named to the 2002 USTCA Women's Track & Field Academic All-America Team as well as the 2003 USTCA Women's Cross Country Academic All-America Team.
Complete Verizon Academic All-District rosters will eventually be posted at cosida.com.
