Seven Deacons Tabbed to All-ACC Academic Team

6/21/2019 11:52:00 AM | Track and Field

By: Wake Forest Athletic Communications

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C- Seven members of the Wake Forest track and field team have been selected to the All-ACC Academic Team, the ACC office announced on Friday (June 21).

On the women's side, graduate students Danielle Konopelski, Johanna Schulz, senior Tesia Kempski, sophomore Rachel Kern, and freshman Elise Wright were selected. For the men, freshmen Zach Facioni and Anthony Jones represent the Deacons.

"What an outstanding year for all of these student-athletes," head coach John Hayes said. "Three of them are freshman and all of them epitomize what it means to be a student athlete."

Konopelski is fresh off a 19^th place finish at the NCAA's in the women's javelin. She finished eighth in the ACC and qualified for the NCAA Championships with a personal best throw of 49.50 to finish 12^th at the East Region Preliminaries.

Schulz, a Neumunster, Germany native, was named Second Team All-ACC in outdoor. She won the 800m at the Liberty Qualifier with a 2:06.24 finish, the second-best time in school history. Schulz also recorded the fifth best 1500m time at the ACC Outdoor Championships with a mark of 4:20.28.

Kempski is a five-time Deans List recipient. She was tabbed Second Team All-ACC in outdoor. Kempski won the pole vault event at the 49er Classic and the High Point Vert Klasse. She posted top seven pole vault marks for the year on the team and recorded the third best pole vault in Wake Forest history with a mark of 4.12m at the Virginia Challenge.

Farmingdale, N.J., native Kern was also named Second Team All-ACC for the outdoor season. Kern won the javelin at the 49er Classic and the Charlotte Invite. She notched the second-best javelin throw in school history at the ACC Outdoor Championships with a mark of 48.26.

Wright recorded a big freshman season with the Deacs. She earned First Team All-ACC honors and posted a top-five school record time in the steeple chase at the Raleigh Relays. Wright also recorded the third best 3k steeple chase time in school history with a time of 10:23.63.

Facioni impressed in his first year at Wake Forest. The Sydney, Australia native was named First Team Outdoor All-ACC and Second Team Indoor All-ACC in the 3000m and 5000m events. He broke the school record that stood for 38 years in men's outdoor 5k with a time of 13:48.16 at the Raleigh Relays. Facioni also earned 2019 All-ACC Academic honors during the indoor season.

Freshman Jones is a Second Team All-ACC selection for the outdoor season. He won the high jump at the Raleigh Relays with a mark of 2.08m and earned the same mark at the ACC Championships, which ranks him second all-time in school history in the high jump, with the highest mark since 1972.

Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.