CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois track and field had 10 athletes earn College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors, the association announced today.
Jessica McDowell, Will Merrick, Mia Morello, Viktor Morozov, Aiden Ouimet, Sam Poglitsch, Will Rezny, Jack Roberts, Kelsey Rothas, and Amber Simpson all received the distinction.
Simpson's Big Ten and school record hammer throw of 70.21m (230-4) set at the Gary Wieneke Memorial led the Midwest region and ranked second in the country for the 2024 season. She later went on to collect All-America honors in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, 67.73m (222-2).
McDowell's 51.02 400m she ran at the NCAA West Preliminaries was the top time in the Midwest region, she later went faster (50.98) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but nominations were due before the national meet. She also held the regions second-fastest 200m (22.95) and 11th-fastest 100m (11.57).
Morello cleared the region's fourth-best vault (4.30m (14-1 1/4)) at the NCAA West Preliminaries and her teammate Rothas cleared the region's 22nd-best vault (3.97m (13-0 1/4)) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Poglitsch clocked the region's 19th-fastest 3000m steeplechase (10:32.74) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships as well.
Ouimet scored the school record and Midwest region's second-best decathlon (7,794 points) at the 64th annual Mt. SAC Relays. Morozov leapt the region's fourth-best triple jump (15.89m (52-1 3/4)) at the NCAA West Preliminaries to be eligible for this honor. After nominations were due, he recorded a new collegiate best in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (15.94m (52-3 3/4)).
Merrick ran the region's 10th-fastest and program's sixth-fastest 1500m (3:40.90) at the Fighting Illini Tune-Up. Rezny threw the region's ninth-best shot put (18.32m (60-1 1/4)) at the Florida Relays and Roberts clocked the region's 20th-fastest 10,000m (29:39.55) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
To be eligible for the award, a nominee must have a 3.50 GPA and is at least a sophomore academically and athletically. Eligible nominees were based off the TFRRS performance list rankings at the time of nomination. Athletes need a top-50 performance in the region in a single event (XC, indoor or outdoor) where they must be an individual performance (not a relay performance) to qualify.
