June 28, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Six Atlantic 10 student-athletes were named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA women's track & field/cross country Academic All-America team.

Jane Daniels of Charlotte earned first-team honors, while teammate Sharonda Johnson and Rhode Island's Emily Anderson were selected to the second-team. Courtney Klenk and Katherine Guilfoyle of Rhode Island, as well as Melissa Stewart of Duquesne, garnered third-team acclaim.

Daniels won the 3000-meter steeplechase and finished second in 5000-meter run at the 2007 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship, helping the 49ers to their second-straight A-10 title. The senior from Oostburg, Wis., also left her mark in the 49ers' record book with a share of the distance medley relay school record (11:43.96) and the 2000-meter steeplechase school record (7:25.06). For her efforts, she was named the A-10's Student-Athlete of the Year in both women's cross country and track & field. At the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championship she placed eighth to earn All-Conference laurels this past season.

Daniels was one of seven student-athletes awarded the Coca-Cola NCAA Division I Community All-America Award for Community Service this summer. The president of the 49ers' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has overseen two shoe drives per year, organized and marketed two blood drives per year, participated in tutoring with the Police Athletic League (PAL), organized annual Toys for Tots Drives and, on an annual basis, volunteered at Special Olympics track meets. She will pursue a Master of Science degree in health promotion at Indiana University.

Johnson won the high jump (5' 7") and finished third in the long jump (18' 9") at the 2007 A-10 Indoor Track & Field Championship. In the A-10 outdoor meet, the senior from Raleigh, N.C., broke an eight-year old Conference record to claim her third conference triple jump title, at 42' 5.5". A two-time All-America in the triple jump, she holds both the indoor and outdoor records at Charlotte. She is a four-time NCAA national qualifier in the event and also holds the school-record in the high jump.

A chemistry major with a 3.89 grade point average, Johnson was the recipient of the 2005 Arthur Ashe Female Sports Scholar of the Year award. She is a previous first-team Academic All-American, winning the award in 2004. She was second-team All-District last season. Johnson also appeared on the 2005 National Track Coaches Association All-Academic team.

Anderson, a Westerly, R.I., native, compiled a 3.95 grade-point average, studying political science & economics. A recent recipient of a 2007 Atlantic 10 Postgraduate Scholarship, she was also a 2005 ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Conference first-team honoree. During her career on the track, she won eight medals at Atlantic 10 championships, including gold in the 1000-meter indoor run in 2005. A two-time team captain, Anderson was also a member of three URI team championships, as the Rams captured the title at the 2003 and 2005 Atlantic 10 outdoor track & field championship, as well as the 2005 indoor championship.

A political science and economics major, Anderson earned the 2006-07 URI Department of Athletics Winifred Keaney Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding graduating female URI student-athlete who has been a role model in her career and has maintained a high level of academic standing. She was also honored with the 2006-07 Rhode Island Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Distinguished Student-Athlete. Anderson will complete her graduate studies in political science at Rhode Island.

Klenk, a biological sciences major, posted a perfect 4.0 grade point average in her academic tenure at URI. Inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa academic society, her resume is filled with numerous academic awards and honors, including the Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society, the Phi Eta Sigma National Freshman Honor Society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key Honor Society, and Phi Sigma Omega just to name a few.

In 2006, she was a winner of the USA Today National Sportsmanship Essay contest, while also earning the A-10 Sportsmanship Award that year. On the track, she earned a scholarship after walking-on her first season. She was a member of five Atlantic 10 championship teams - three outdoor and two indoor. In 2003 and 2005, she finished fourth in the 10,000m run while also placing fourth place in the 5,000m in 2003 at the A-10 Outdoor Championships.

Guilfoyle maintained a 3.99 GPA as a Biological Sciences (Pre Dental) major while participating in the URI honors program, earning Dean's List honors every semester. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma, National Society of College Scholars, and Chi Alpha Sigma honor societies, she was selected as a University College Scholar following her freshman year -- an award that honors the top 10 freshmen in the entire university. She was also recognized at the Honors Convocation for winning an Eric Kumpf Memorial Humanities Award, which provided financial support to assist her senior honors project "Recruitment and Retention of Childhood Bereavement Center Facilitators," which has been accepted for presentation at the 11th Annual National Symposium on Children's Grief Support in Birmingham, Alabama, June 2007.

On the track, Guilfoyle earned a scholarship after walking-on her first season and has scored in the steeplechase at the Atlantic 10 championship in all four seasons in a URI singlet. She was named to the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Academic All-Conference team in both 2005 and 2006 and was featured in the Atlantic 10/CSTV Student-Athlete Spotlight included on the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship telecast.

Stewart, a resident of Indiana, Pa., is honored for the second consecutive year as a member of the Academic All-America third-team. The 2007 Duquesne Female Student of the Year had a 3.97 grade point average majoring in Health Management Systems.

Academic All-America Teams are selected by CoSIDA The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, women's volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's track & field/cross country, women's track & field/cross country, men's at-large and women's at-large. A first-, second-, and third-team are selected in both the University (Division I and I-AA) and College (Division II, III and NAIA) Divisions. Football consists of just first- and second-teams.

To be nominated, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for his/her career. No athlete is eligible until he/she has reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution (thus, true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible transfers are not eligible). In the cases of transfers, graduate students and junior college graduates, the athlete must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to be eligible.