Lauren Penney and Donald Pollitt were named to the USTFCCCA All-America First Team.
Penney and Pollitt Named First Team All-Americans
6/10/2013 4:24:00 PM | Track and Field
NEW ORLEANS - Graduate student Lauren Penney and sophomore Donald Pollitt were each named USTFCCCA First Team All-Americans following their top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championship this past weekend. Penney took eighth in the 5000m run while Pollitt finished sixth in the 110m hurdles. Freshman Brianna Nerud was named to the Honorable Mention All-America team after finishing 17th in the 3000m steeplechase semifinals.
"It's a great honor," Pollitt said. "I'm happy because I had an outstanding season so what better way to end my season by becoming an All-American. This is the second year in a row that Syracuse has had an All-American in the 110m hurdles after Jarret Eaton was named one last year. I'm proud that we can produce really good hurdlers and put Syracuse on the map."
This is the first time in Penney's career that she has been named to the All-America First team. In the indoor season, Penney was named to the indoor USTFCCCA All-America second team after finishing 12th at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in the 3000m run. At the outdoor NCAA Championship, Penney finished eighth in the 5000m run with a time of 16:01.09. Â Last season, she was named a 2012 USTFCCCA Honorable Mention All-American after finishing 22nd in the 5000m run at the NCAA Championship.
Penney's impressive performance at the NCAA wraps up a storied career. She leaves Syracuse with her name in the record book in four different places. This season, Penney broke her own school records in the mile (4:37.41) and 3000m run (9:06.32). She holds the outdoor records in the 1500m (4:13.86) and the 5000m (15:56.80). Penney also was the Orange cross country team's first All-American honoree.
This is Pollitt's first All-America award of his career. His time of 13.52w had him in sixth place in the 110m hurdles final in his first appearance at the NCAA Championship. Pollitt, who just finished up his sophomore season, was the IC4A Champion in the 110m hurdles and captured silver at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship. In the indoor season, Pollitt was the 60m hurdles BIG EAST Indoor champion. He qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championship by finishing sixth overall at the NCAA East Prelims.
As a true freshman, Nerud finished in 17th place in the semifinals of the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:18.16. At the NCAA East Prelims, Nerud's PR time of 10:03.18 not only secured her a spot in the semifinals at nationals but broke Katie hursey's school record of 10:08.44 that was set in 2011. During the indoor season, Nerud set the school record in the 1000m run with her time of 2:48.85.
First-team USTFCCCA All-America honors are awarded to those who earn any portion of a team point at the national championships, or reach an eight-entrant final. Second-team All-America honors are handed out to those whose final placing in the national meet range from ninth to 16th place.
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Those who participated at the final site but did not place in the meet's top 16 are listed as honorable mention for the All-America award.
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"It's a great honor," Pollitt said. "I'm happy because I had an outstanding season so what better way to end my season by becoming an All-American. This is the second year in a row that Syracuse has had an All-American in the 110m hurdles after Jarret Eaton was named one last year. I'm proud that we can produce really good hurdlers and put Syracuse on the map."
This is the first time in Penney's career that she has been named to the All-America First team. In the indoor season, Penney was named to the indoor USTFCCCA All-America second team after finishing 12th at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in the 3000m run. At the outdoor NCAA Championship, Penney finished eighth in the 5000m run with a time of 16:01.09. Â Last season, she was named a 2012 USTFCCCA Honorable Mention All-American after finishing 22nd in the 5000m run at the NCAA Championship.
Penney's impressive performance at the NCAA wraps up a storied career. She leaves Syracuse with her name in the record book in four different places. This season, Penney broke her own school records in the mile (4:37.41) and 3000m run (9:06.32). She holds the outdoor records in the 1500m (4:13.86) and the 5000m (15:56.80). Penney also was the Orange cross country team's first All-American honoree.
This is Pollitt's first All-America award of his career. His time of 13.52w had him in sixth place in the 110m hurdles final in his first appearance at the NCAA Championship. Pollitt, who just finished up his sophomore season, was the IC4A Champion in the 110m hurdles and captured silver at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship. In the indoor season, Pollitt was the 60m hurdles BIG EAST Indoor champion. He qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championship by finishing sixth overall at the NCAA East Prelims.
As a true freshman, Nerud finished in 17th place in the semifinals of the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:18.16. At the NCAA East Prelims, Nerud's PR time of 10:03.18 not only secured her a spot in the semifinals at nationals but broke Katie hursey's school record of 10:08.44 that was set in 2011. During the indoor season, Nerud set the school record in the 1000m run with her time of 2:48.85.
First-team USTFCCCA All-America honors are awarded to those who earn any portion of a team point at the national championships, or reach an eight-entrant final. Second-team All-America honors are handed out to those whose final placing in the national meet range from ninth to 16th place.
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Those who participated at the final site but did not place in the meet's top 16 are listed as honorable mention for the All-America award.
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