NEW ORLEANS Eastern Kentucky University seniors Ann Eason and Ole Hesselbjerg have been named to U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Cross Country Teams.
Eason is one of only 153 Division I student-athletes named to the women's All-Academic Team, while Hesselbjerg is one of only 91 named to the men's All-Academic Team.
Belmont's Marcus Bridger Wilkinson (men's) and Hannah Wittman (women's) are the only other Ohio Valley Conference student-athletes to receive the prestigious honor.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Teams, student-athletes must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have either earned USTFCCCA All-America status or finished in their respective region's top 15 (or top 10 percent) in 2013.
Eason has maintained a 3.97 GPA while working towards a degree in elementary education. The Lexington native was named the OVC Female Cross Country Runner of the Year for the third consecutive season and just missed earning All-America honors after finishing 42nd at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute with a 6K time of 20:48.0. Eason was voted a 2013-14 Capital One second team Academic All-American for women's track and field / cross country by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) last June.
Hesselbjerg has maintained a 3.35 GPA while working towards a degree in physics. The native of Charlottenlund, Denmark was All-Southeast Region in cross country this fall and was the Colonels' top finisher at the NCAA Championships, placing 66th out of 246 runners with a 10K time of 31:14.9.
The EKU women's cross country team was also named a Division I All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA.
To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, the team must have had a cumulative team GPA of 3.00 or better and have started at least five runners at their respective NCAA region championship.
