Six MSUM Dragons named USTFCCCA Female Scholar Athletes

NEW ORLEANS - The USTFCCCA announced the women's 2011 Division II All-Academic Track & Field team. A total of 311 student-athletes representing 80 institutions compose the group, with six athletes from Minnesota State University Moorhead named to the list.

Grand Valley State led all squads with 20 team members named to the All-Academic list. Slippery Rock followed with 11 nods. In third place, Shippensburg, Ashland, Southern Connecticut, and Western State checked in with nine honorees.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met an NCAA automatic or provisional qualifying mark in an individual or relay event at some point in either indoor or outdoor seasons.

The honorees from MSUM include: Kristina Anderson, Nicole Hall, Kendra Mooberry, Kara Nygaard, Anna VanWechel and Kirby Vossler.

Anderson, a senior Biology major, competed on the third place 4x400 meter relay team that finished third at the NSIC Indoor Championships this spring and also ran a personal top time of 58.61 int he 400-meter dash at the Ron Masanz Meet during the outdoor season. She also received first place honors in the undergraduate poster competition at the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology National Meeting April 9 -13 in Washington, D.C.

Hall, a sophomore sprinter, finished 6th in the 600m and ran on the 3rd place 4x400m team at the NSIC Indoor Championships, prior to competing in the 200 and 400 meter dash during the outdoor season. She is majoring in Biology.

Mooberry, one of the top sprinters for the Dragons this winter and spring, is majoring in Biology with an emphasis in Health Sciences. She narrowly missed the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles as she put up the best time in the NSIC with a time of 1:02.53 at hte Cobber Sunny Day Meet on May 5.

Nygaard, the reigning javelin throwing champion at the Ron Masanz Meet at MSUM, she was an all around field event competitor during the 2011 seasons. The freshman competed in the high jump at the NSIC Indoor Championships this past winter.

VanWechel, one of the most decorated female track and field athletes in the history of the MSUM program is the current school record holder in the mile and the distance medley relay. Plagued by injury this season, she was not able to repeat her NCAA DII All-American stature, but still put up the fourth highest time in the 1500-meter run in the league, hitting a provisional qualifying mark. The senior is a Biology major.

Vossler was a member of the 4x400m relay team who provisionally qualified for the NCAA II Indoor Championships. A Elementary Education major, with a coaching minor, she competed in the triple jump during the outdoor season