Five Honored With USTFCCCA All-Academic Accolades
New Orleans, LA --- Five Worcester State female student-athletes have been recognized with US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches (USTFCCCA) honors for their performance on the field and in the classroom.
New Orleans, LA --- Five Worcester State female student-athletes have been recognized with US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches (USTFCCCA) honors for their performance on the field and in the classroom.
The list includes seniors Mara Kralian (N. Grafton, MA) and Sarah Rafferty (Uxbridge, MA), freshman teammates Alyssa Jasper (Rockland, MA) and Brittany Hodgerney (Leicester, MA) along with sophomore Christy Deininger (N. Attleboro, MA). For Kralian this is the third consecutive year that she has received the prestigious accolade while the other four are first-time honorees.
To qualify for the All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a 3.30 grade point average, competed at an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship or finish the regular season ranked in the top national 35 individual events or top 25 relays (collective listing) on the official NCAA list provided by TFRRS.org.
Of the 13 schools from around New England, Worcester State tied for the fifth-most student-athletes while Williams had the most with 12, followed by MIT's total of 11. Southern Maine, the only other public institution from the region who had student-athletes on the list, had a trio earn laurels.
340 total female student-athletes around the country were recognized by the USTFCCCA.
Deininger, Rafferty and Hodgerney qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships this past spring with a meet record-breaking time for a Division III New England title (47.27).
Deininger also competed in the 100 meter hurdles at the Division III Outdoor Championships with a school-mark time of 14.58 while she also finished the indoor season ranked 16th on the final 60 meter hurdle performance list during the winter (8.94). Deininger was also honored as one of ten representatives from District I on the Capital One Division III Co-SIDA All-Academic team.
Kralian wraps up a stellar career as her 4x100 meter relay team posted a time of 47.78 for the 26th-best time nationally. She teamed with Deininger, Rafferty and junior Briana Wise (Worcester, MA/Burncoat) to set the school record at Fitchburg State's Jim Sheehan Invitational on April 7 before it was reset at the Division III New Engalnd Championships.
Kralian has also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships long jump in her sophomore and junior seasons en route to earning consecutive USTFCCCA All-Academic accolades.
Jasper stamped her ticket to the Outdoor Championships with the 22nd best toss in the javelin (41.18m/135-1) while she was also 30th nationally in the heptathlon with 4,254 points which was scored at the ECAC Division III Championships. She qualified for the Division III Outdoor Championships for the javelin with her first-place mark in the heptathlon event at the ECAC's.