FC's Waterman and RHIT's Evans Named to Academic All-America Team

GREENWOOD, IN - The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference has placed two athletes on the CoSIDA Academic All-America women's track and field/cross country squad for the 2010-11 season.  Franklin senior Heather Waterman (Shelbyville, Ind./Morristown) and Rose-Hulman sophomore Liz Evans (Bicknell, Ind./North Knox) were each selected as members of the second team. 

Waterman, a senior for the Grizzlies, recently graduated with a near-perfect cumulative grade point average majoring in both biology and chemistry.  She earned All-America honors by placing fourth in the 5,000-meter run in the NCAA Division III Championships in Delaware, Ohio in late May and also earned the HCAC Track Athlete of the Year award for the third straight season.

In cross country, Waterman qualified for the NCAA Division III national meet for the second consecutive year by finishing sixth among 230 runners.  She missed earning All-America by just two finishing places in the competition and was the HCAC’s Most Valuable Runner for the second time.

Evans, a sophomore for the Engineers, won the NCAA Division III national championship in the indoor and outdoor high jump in 2011.  She became just the eighth athlete in NCAA Division III history to sweep the indoor and outdoor high jump national championships in the same year.  She was also named the HCAC Indoor and Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year in 2011, and won the high jump, long jump and triple jump individual HCAC titles outdoors. 

In addition, Evans holds school records in three events and has been named the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year three times.  She carried a 3.51 grade point average as a double major in mathematics and electrical engineering.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.