The Bison women’s and men’s teams combined for six selections on the Summit League’s 2014 Outdoor Track and Field Academic All-League teams. The honors were announced June 6.
For the women, Summit League individual champions Ashley Tingelstad and Sierra Rosenau and all-league pole vaulter Anna Benke represented the Bison on the Academic All-League squad.
Tingelstad, a human development and family science major with a 3.65 cumulative grade-point average, was named the 2014 Women’s Track Championship MVP after winning the 400m dash, running on NDSU’s winning teams in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and taking runner-up honors in the 200m dash. This is Tingelstad’s third Academic All-League selection.
Rosenau, a sophomore human development and family science major with a 3.61 cumulative GPA, captured the league title in the javelin.
Benke, a sophomore with a 4.0 GPA in nursing, finished third in the pole vault at the Summit League Championships.
On the men’s side, the Bison trio consisted of senior Alec Espeland, redshirt freshman Grant Mjelstad and junior Brett Kelly.
Espeland, a microbiology major with a 3.89 cumulative GPA, won the 1500m at the Summit League Championships and owned the league’s top time in the 800m this season. This is Espeland’s fourth Academic All-League honor.
Mjelstad, a finance major with a 3.52 cumulative GPA, won the Summit League decathlon title, placed sixth in the pole vault and long jump and took eighth in the javelin.
Kelly, a biochemistry and molecular biology major with a 3.58 cumulative GPA, was the Summit League runner-up in the 3,000m steeplechase and placed third in the 5,000m.
To be eligible for The Summit League Academic All-League team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GP) of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale) and have completed at least one full academic year at the current institution.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.