Wingate’s Wilson, Hines; Tusculum’s Alston; Mars Hill’s Prichard Named To Academic All-District Track & Cross Country Team

ROCK HILL, SC -- Four South Atlantic Conference cross country runners have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III track & field/cross country first team, selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).

Mars Hill College senior Kate Prichard, as well as Wingate University senior Chelsey Wilson (Candler, N.C.) and sophomore Amber Hines (Little Mountain, S.C.) earned first team honors in District III. Tusculum College runner Sarah Alston was named to the District IV College Division Women's Track & Field/Cross Country First Team.

District III (college division) includes all non-NCAA Division I schools (Division II, III and NAIA) in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North and South Carolina. District IV includes all colleges and universities from Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio and Michigan. The first team selections advance to the national ballot for 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® honors.

Amber Hines

Chelsey Wilson

Sarah Alston

Wilson finished in the top 50 in all her 2007 races, including an 11th place finish in the Queens University of Charlotte Invitational with a career-best 5K time of 20:47. She finished 50th in the 2007 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional event (hosted by Wingate) with a 6K time of 26:18. Wilson's career-best 6K time was a 25:59 in the 2005 regionals at the Wingate University cross country facility.

Wilson was the inaugural winner of the Bulldog Club Spirit Award at the 2007 Wingate athletics awards ceremony. Her dedication in a supporting role was instrumental in the 2004 team qualifying for the NCAA National Championship meet for the first time in the school's history. As a senior, she received the cross country team's Coaches Appreciation Award for her leadership and dedication - her coaches believed she was the glue that bonded the team.

A Sociology major, Wilson graduated with a 3.88 overall GPA at Wingate's recent 2007 Commencement Exercises. She was photo editor for The Gate, Wingate's yearbook. Also, Wilson served as a staff writer for The Weekly Triangle newspaper.

Hines was the 2006 South Atlantic Conference Runner of the Year, as she crossed the finish line in first place. She finished in the top eight in eight of nine races this season, including three first-place finishes, one second-place finish and two third-place finishes. She finished second in the 2007 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional meet, earning a spot in the NCAA Division II National Championship meet as an individual qualifier.

A two-time All-South Atlantic Conference performance and Wingate's 2006 MVP, Hines holds Wingate's 5K (18:44) and 6K (22:24) records. She set the school's 6K record in the biggest race of her career, placing 94th in the 2006 NCAA Division II Nationals in Pensacola, Florida with a time of 22:24. Hines is a Biology major with a perfect 4.00 GPA.

Alston, a senior from Morristown, Tenn., accumulated a 3.99 cumulativeve grade point average while majoring in Psychology with a minor in Political Science. She was honored last month as she was named the 2007 recipient of the Duffield Academic Award, which is presented to the Tusculum student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA.

Alston competed in all six cross country meets last fall for the Pioneers and finished no worse than 15th, including a second place performance at the Tusculum Invitational. The 2007 NCAA All-Academic Cross Team honoree is also a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll. She was also tabbed to the Dean's List, President's List and the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.

Prichard, a senior from Clemson, S.C., has a 3.96 GPA as a Business Administration major with a minor in Spanish. She was also selected as the South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete earlier this year. Prichard will advance to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Ballot.

Along with being an All-Conference runner for four years, Prichard has also been named to the NCAA DII Southeast All-Region team four times. She was the SAC Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year in 2003. During her career at Mars Hill, she has won five races.

Her academic excellence has earned her the honor of being named a College Marshall at Mars Hill and receives the prestigious Grayson Scholarship, Mars Hill's most rigorous academic award. She has been received All-Academic honors the past two years from the Cross Country Coaches Association.

In the community, Prichard has devoted her time to serving as a tutor in many

Kate Prichard

areas, including helping to prepare high-risk high school students for college. She also volunteered at a Manna Food Bank, helped raise funds for Make-A-Wish and the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.

District III College Division
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major(s)
Ashley DeMarco EMORY III Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa. 3.53 English, pre-med
Amy DiBianca EMORY III Sr. Winston-Salem, N.C. 3.69 Art History, visual arts
Lakischa Fontenot ST. AUGUSTINE'S III Sr. Sacramento, Calif. 3.7 Sociology
Amber Hines WINGATE III So. Little Mountain, S.C. 4.00 Biology
Mary Mohay LYNCHBURG III Jr. Fairfax, Va. 3.89 Exercise physiology
Julia Morton EMORY III Sr. Glen Allen, Va. 3.89 Neuroscience & behavioral biology
Kendra Nissley EASTERN MENNONITE III Sr. Columbiana, Ohio 3.94 German; justice,peace & conflict studies
Kate Prichard MARS HILL III Sr. Clemson, S.C. 3.96 Business administration
Tara Redding VIRGINIA WESLEYAN III Sr. Chambersburg, Pa. 3.90 Earth and environmental sciences
Ashley Roane VIRGINIA WESLEYAN III So. Chesapeake, Va. 3.97 Religious studies, French
Chelsey Wilson WINGATE III Sr. Candler, N.C. 3.88 Sociology

District IV College Division
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major(s)
Sarah Alston TUSCULUM IV Sr. Morristown, Tenn. 3.99 Psychology
Jean Anne Babin SEWANEE IV Sr. Huntsville, Ala. 4.01 Psychology, political science
Elaine Binkley DENISON IV Sr. Columbus, Ohio 4.0 Biology
Jenni Culbertson WAYNE STATE IV Sr. Clinton Twp., Mich. 4.00 Accounting
Ashley Johnson WILMINGTON (OH) IV Sr. Wilmington, Ohio 3.99 Early childhood education
Samantha Modderman CEDARVILLE IV Sr. Walker, Mich. 3.92 Biology
Stephanie Nothelle CASE WESTERN RESERVE IV Sr. Porter, Ind. 4.0 Biology, German
Marie Rymut OHIO WESLEYAN IV Sr. Broadview Heights, Ohio 4.00 Pre-med, politics & government
Trish Todd BELLARMINE IV Jr. Louisville, Ky. 4.00 Biology
Katie Wieferich WOOSTER IV Sr. Marietta, Ohio 3.81 Chemistry
Lisa Winkle CALVIN IV Sr. Grand Rapids, Mich. 3.96 Mathematics, secondary ed.
Sarah Wittingen CALVIN IV Jr. East Grand Rapids, Mich. 3.98 Accounting