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Pac-12 announces All-Academic Track and Field Teams


June 12, 2012

OFFICIAL RELEASE

The Pac-12 Conference released its 2012 Men’s and Women’s Track and Field All-Academic teams on Monday and eight Sun Devils found their way to first-team honors and 18 were honored overall, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has announced.

The Arizona State men posted five first-team honors - the most of any school in the Pac-12 Conference – while the women had three first-team selections, which tied with several teams for the most selections and gave the Sun Devils the highest amount of total first-team selections of any team (8) in the conference between the men and women.  Colorado had six total first team selections while Stanford had five. 

The men were led by senior John Kline, who graduated in May with a 4.03 GPA in Kinesiology.  Kline was honored with the ASU Alumni Outstanding Graduate Award and Mouer Award from the School of Nutrition.  Kline was also the lone Sun Devil on the All-Academic first-team lists to earn an All-America award, taking second-team honors for his work on the men’s 4x400-meter relay that finished 10th overall at the NCAA Championships this past weekend. 

For Kline, it was his third consecutive first-team honor from the conference, having earned it the last two years as well.

The ASU men’s distance team was well represented as redshirt freshman Garrett Baker-Slama earned first-team accolades with a 4.09 GPA in Kinesiology.  Baker-Slama – who had a solid first year in the steeplechase – was the lone redshirt freshman to earn first-team honors. 

Junior Nick Happe, who earned second-team All-America honors indoors in the mile, also posted a 4.09 GPA in Finance while redshirt sophomore steeplechaser Steven Schnieders earned first-team honors with a 3.82 GPA in Accountancy.  Happe was an honorable mention selection in 2011 while Schnieders was a first-team selection last year as well.

Senior decathlete Jamie Sandys – a point-scorer at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships – rounded out the first-team selections with his 4.09 GPA and double major in Anthropology and Sociology.  Sandys is also now a three-time first-team selection. 

On the women’s side, graduate Cj Navarro was the top Sun Devil on the first-team list after posting a 4.08 GPA – graduate-work included – in Education Technology. Navarro scored for the Sun Devils in both the hammer and discus competition at the Pac-12 Championships and was just one spot away from qualifying for the NCAA finals in the discus competition.

Navaro earned her fourth Pac-12 honor with the selection, having been a first-team selection in 2010 and 2011 while being a second-team honoree during her redshirt freshman campaign.

Fellow thrower Alex Hartig also earned first-team honors with her 3.94 GPA in Accountancy.  The redshirt freshman was one of just two freshmen on the first team and was also a point-scorer for the Sun Devils in the shot put at the conference championships. 

Junior Natasa Vulic rounded out ASU’s first-team selections with a 4.00 GPA in Pre-Physiology.

The Sun Devils posted two second-team honorees, both on the men’s side, in Nathan Estes and Derick Hinch.  Estes, a junior, posted a 3.59 GPA in Mechanical Engineering and scored for the Sun Devils in the shot put this year at the Pac-12 Championships while Hinch was one of the top newcomers in the conference in the pole vault, finishing third at the NCAA Championships and posting a 3.37 GPA in sociology as a junior college transfer.

The men would also see three student-athletes earn All-Academic honorable mention honors in seniors Daniel Auberry, Chris Benard and Mason McHenry while the women had five honorable mention selections in seniors Ashley Lampley and Kauren Tarver, junior Keia Pinnick and sophomores Alycia Herring and Constance Ezugha

To be selected for Academic All-Pac-12 honors, a student-athlete must carry a 3.0 or better grade point average, have completed at least one full academic year at their institution and be a starter or significant contributor to the team during the academic year.