Deininger, Jasper Receive Capital One Co-SIDA All-Academic Accolades

Worcester, MA --- Senior Christy Deininger (N. Attleboro, MA) and junior Alyssa Jasper (Rockland, MA) have both been tabbed to the Capital One Academic District I Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (Co-SIDA). Both student-athletes move on to the national ballot for Academic All-American consideration.

Deinigner has now been recognized at the district level in all three years that she has been eligible while Jasper earns laurels for the second-straight academic year.

Out of the 13 student-athletes from the district, four were selected from the MASCAC including senior Targie Gervais (Springfield, MA) of Westfield State and sophomore Danielle Poto (N. Andover, MA) of Bridgewater State.

District I includes institutions that make up Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

This past week, Deininger put the exclamation point on a stellar career as she claimed All-American honors with fifth place in the 100 meter hurdles at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. En route to becoming WSU's eighth ECAC Division III Champion, she put up the best split nationally entering the national meet (14.08).

Over the course of her outstanding career as a Lancer, Deininger has made four trips to the NCAAs, competing in the 100 meter hurdles three times and she has been the lead leg on two 4x100 meter. Deininger earned a berth to the NCAA Indoor Championships this past winter, placing 15th in the 60 meter hurdles (8.94) at Nebraska's Devaney Sports Center.

She sports a 3.51 grade point average with a double major in Elementary Education and Psychology.

Deininger is an active member in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, has been recognized with prestigious US Track And Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) All-Academic  honors twice, on the MASCAC All-Academic Team four times and she has copped Dean's List nods on five occasions.

Jasper also scored points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with an eight-place finish in the heptathlon (4,714 points) while also participating in the javelin at for the third straight season. Jasper entered the competition with the seventh highest javelin toss nationally (143-11) and she became WSU's fourth women's track and field individual All-American.

With a strong outdoor campaign, Jasper captured the All-Division III New England javelin title for the second time in as many years as she also reset an eight-year standard with the individual heptathlon crown (4,741 points). A multi-sport student-athlete, Jasper has earned All-MASCAC recognition as a standout outside hitter in each of the last three fall seasons.

Jasper has posted a 3.71 GPA in the classroom with a major in Nursing. She is active in the Student-Athlete Mentor program while also earning USTFCCCA honors twice, MASCAC All-Academic Team distinctions three times and nods on the dean's list in four out of five possible semesters.

Both student-athletes were recently inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma student-athlete honor society for their outstanding contributions to the Worcester State athletics department on the track and in the classroom. Jasper and Deininger have also helped the women's track and field team achieve notoriety in the top 10 at the Division III New England Championships for three straight seasons.  

To be eligible for all-academic honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or a key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a 4.00 scale, have reached sophomore athletically or academically at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

This year marks the third that the College Division (Non-Division I) has been expanded to include Divisions I, II, III and NAIA along with Canadian schools and two-year institutions. The regions were spread out to include eight distinct geographic locations across the United States.

2014 Capital One Academic All-District I Women's Cross Country, Track & Field Team

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