Bowling Green State University Athletics
Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications
Pleger Earns Academic All-America Status
June 26, 2014 | Women's Track and Field
Complete Track and Field Academic All-America Release (.pdf)
Bowling Green, Ohio – Following arguably the most successful individual season in Bowling Green State University women's track and field history, redshirt junior Brooke Pleger has been named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Women's Track and Field/Cross Country Third Team. Pleger adds another All-American honor to her growing list of accomplishments after being named first team All-American for the second consecutive year by placing third in the hammer throw at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.
Pleger becomes just the third BGSU Track and Field student-athlete to be named an Academic All-American, joining Amy Warner (second team in 1987) and Kristin Gaddis (first team in 1996). Pleger boasts a 3.72 grade point average in nursing and was named BGSU's Female Athlete of the Year.
"This recognition puts Brooke in elite company again," BGSU Track and Field/Cross Country Coach Lou Snelling said. "She has worked hard in the classroom to pursue a degree in nursing while successfully balancing her athletic career. A big part of our team goals revolve around academic success and this is another great example of achieving at the highest level at Bowling Green."
A native of Saline, Mich., Pleger has piled up an impressive list of credentials by the completion of her junior year. She is just the second Falcon in women's track and field history to earn two first team All-America honors in her career. Her third place finish at the 2013 national championships in the hammer throw is the best individual result in BGSU history. She was also named the Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
For most of the year, Pleger was the No. 2 ranked hammer thrower in the country. She was undefeated throughout the regular season and won the Mid-American Conference Championship by breaking her own meet record with a toss of 218-feet-9. She broke three facility records – at the University of Kentucky, at the University of Cincinnati and at home during the team's dual meet against rival Toledo. Late in the year, she broke her own personal best with a toss of 223-0, a mark that places her tenth all-time among American collegiate hammer throwers.
Pleger was a three-time MAC Field Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season and added the honor once during indoor for her performance with the weight throw. She advanced to the NCAA Regional Preliminary meet as the No. 2 seed and finished second, qualifying for the national championships. At the NCAA National Championships, Pleger launched the hammer 211-6, good enough to finish third a year after placing seventh as a sophomore.
The 2014 Capital One Academic All-America® Team process began at the district level, as eight all-district teams were chosen as the result of voting by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members within those respective districts.
Pleger was named to the all-district first team for District 5. That district consists of schools in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. First-team all-district selections then have their names placed on the ballot for Academic All-America® Team honors.
With the honor, Pleger becomes the third BGSU student-athlete to be named an Academic All-American this year, joining Brandon Silva (men's soccer second-team) and Nikki Chiricosta (at-large women's tennis third-team). She is one of just three student-athletes from the Mid-American Conference named to one of the women's track and field Academic All-America teams.
This is the second year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
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