Luther Cross Country Team Named USTFCCCA All-Academic Team
March 4, 2009
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) announced on Tuesday, March 3, that the Luther College women’s cross-country team has received the All-Academic team award for the 2008 season.
For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Meet. The team must also have a minimum 3.10 team cumulative grade point average.
The USTFCCCA announced that a record total of 156 Division III women’s programs received the All-Academic Team honors this year compared to 141 schools from last season.
Forty-percent of all Division III institutions (394) who sponsor women’s cross-country received the honor. In addition, 30 of the 32 teams in the championship field at this year’s NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams, including every team who finished in the top ten. Luther’s cumulative grade-point-average was 3.535. Seven of the nine teams from the Iowa Conference were on the list.
Complete All-Academic Team list
Under the direction of fourth-year Head Coach Yarrow Pasche, the Norse cross-country team had another outstanding season. For the second consecutive year the Norse posted a top-10 finish at the NCAA III National Championships finishing seventh.
Individually, senior Janet Dobyns (Iowa City, Iowa/West) became only the second women's runner in Luther history to earn All-America honors three times. Dobyns placed 15th from the field of 279 runners at the national finale.
Luther earned a third consecutive trip to the national championships after placing second at the Central Region championships.
