NEW ORLEANS - Lipscomb's Track and Field program highlighted honors earned by Atlantic Sun institutions from U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for their respective academic excellence.
Lipscomb's Men led all institutions with a 3.320 team cumulative GPA, tied with Yale while the Lady Bisons posted a cumulative GPA of 3.540 to rank second nationally behind West Virginia by a mere 0.04. Jacksonville and Lipscomb joined 115 other women's programs recognized as 2008 All-Academic Track and Field teams. Individually, Jacksonville's dynamic duo of Natasha Harvey and Shaquania Lundy received individual recognition from the USTFCCCA by earning spots on the 2008 Women's All-Academic Team. Harvey earned All-America honors after a second-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Her leap of 21-10 (6.65m) broke the school record of 21-09 (6.63m) that she had set the day before in preliminary rounds. Harvey won the Most Outstanding Field Performer at both the Atlantic Sun's Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships after winning the long jump, triple jump and 60-meter hurdles at the Indoor meet and the long jump, heptathlon and 100-meter dash at the Outdoor Championship. Lundy took second to Harvey at the long jump and triple jump at the Indoor meet but won the triple jump at the Outdoor meet and added a second in the long jump. A record total of 468 student-athletes representing 140 Division I institutions composed the women's 2008 All-Academic team while over 260 Division I male track and field student-athletes made up the men's 2008 All-Academic team Gardner-Webb featured a quartet of All-Academic members in Elliott Haynie, Jerel Langley, Carrie Long and Elizabeth Maxell. Haynie recorded the third-best vault in conference history, clearing 4.60m at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Jerel Langley also found his way into the record as the unleashed a throw of 64.28m in the javelin, breaking a record set at the inaugural Outdoor Championship by FIU. Long broke the conference's record for the pole vault the first day of the championships. Maxwell took second in the hammer throw. The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University. Related Links:
• USTFCCA Official Site
• Lipscomb Web site