Edwards is Named First Team Academic All-District for Second Year in a Row

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University senior runner Theresa Edwards (Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) has been selected First Team Capital One Academic All-District VIII on the 2012-13 NCAA Division III Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Edwards competed for the Bearcats as a cross country runner and participated in middle-distance and long-distance races in track and field. It is the second consecutive year that Edwards had been named First Team Academic All-District.

As a First Team Academic All-District selection, Edwards is eligible for the Capital One NCAA Division III Academic All-America Team, which will be released on Tuesday, June 25.

First Team Capital One Academic All-District

Theresa Edwards, who graduated this spring with a bachelor's degree and double major in Environmental Science and Biology, owned a 3.97 cumulative GPA through the fall 2012 semester. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.

Edwards qualified for the NCAA Championships in cross country three times (2010, 2011, 2012) and in track and field once in the 1,500-meter run (2012). She achieved All-West Region honors three times in cross country.

In addition, Edwards was named All-NWC three times in cross country and four times in track (two times each in the 800 and 1,500).

Edwards won NWC individual championships in the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run in 2012. She scored for the team a total of eight times at NWC championship track and field meets.

This spring, she was the co-winner of the Jean Williams Award as Willamette's top senior womens athlete based on athletics, academics and leadership.

She has achieved USTFCCCA All-Academic honors a total of six times in cross country and track.

During the 2010 cross country season, she took 12th place in the NWC and placed 13th at the West Regional. She qualified as an individual for the 2010 NWC Division III Cross Country Championships.

In 2011, she was third at the NWC meet while setting a personal record of 22:01.61 over the 6-kilometer course, and finished 15th at the West Regional. This past fall, she earned seventh place in the NWC and placed 14th in the West Region.

While competing at the NCAA Championships in cross country, she helped Willamette place 29th in the nation in 2011 and 32nd in the nation in 2012.

CoSIDA District VIII

CoSIDA District VIII includes colleges and universities in the western United States. Athletes nominated for the Capital One Academic All-District Team were starters or key reserves with cumulative GPAs of 3.3 or higher (4.0 scale). Each athlete was at her current college or university for at least one academic year.