Three Named To Women’s Cross Country And Track Academic All-District Team

BRISTOL, Conn. - Three women's cross country runners from the South Atlantic Conference have been named to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III College Division First Team for Women's Cross Country and Track and Field, as selected by selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Lenoir-Rhyne University's Kate Griewisch and Wingate University's Jennifer Bossi and Alicia Harbold were selected for this honor.

District III (college division) includes all non-NCAA Division I schools (Division II, III and NAIA) in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North and South Carolina. The members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (by districts) select the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III Teams.

The 10 first team selections advance to the national ballot for 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® honors.

Kate Griewisch

Jennifer Bossi

Alicia Harbold

Griewisch, a sophomore from Banner Elk, N.C., earned All-America honors in cross country after finishing 19th out of 184 runners at the NCAA Division II National Championships in November in Evansville, Ind., and was one place off of All-America accolades in the 10,000-meter run this past May at the national outdoor track and field finals in Charlotte, N.C.

In addition, Griewisch won both the South Atlantic Conference and NCAA Division II Southeast Regional meets in 2009 and holds the school record in the 5K (17:17) and 10K (35:10) in track and field.

Griewisch has been named to the All-SAC First Team in women's cross country the past two years and was the first-ever women's cross country All-American in school history.

Griewisch, who sports a 3.83 grade point average while majoring in biology, was named the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Of The Year and is a member of the league's commissioner's honor roll.

Bossi and Harbold earn Academic All-District III laurels for the first time in their respective careers.

Bossi's top 2009 times included a 22:39 5K at the Wingate Invitational and a 27:26 6K at the NCAA regional meet. In her final Food Lion South Atlantic Conference meet last fall, she helped the Bulldogs claim third place by earning a fifth-place finish on the team charts. Bossi, a senior from Bristol, Conn., earned the Coaches' Award at Wingate's 2009-10 athletic awards ceremony.

In 2008, Bossi posted career-best times of 21:49 for a 5K race (SAC meet) and 26:46 for a 6K event (NCAA regionals). In 2007, her best 5K time was a 22:11 at the Greensboro Invitational. Her top 6K in 2007 was a 27:27 at the Wingate Invitational. In 2006, her best times were a 21:54 5K (Hagan Stone) and a 26:58 6K (NCAA regionals).

One of Wingate's top Athletic Training students, Bossi graduated magna cum laude with University honors at the school's May Commencement Exercises. She has a 3.85 GPA. Her awards and achievements include N.C. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (NCAAHPERD) Student Major of the Year (2008) and Undergraduate Research Award (2009).

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) named Bossi the Student Major of the Year for 2010. In addition, Bossi earned Wingate's Most Outstanding Female in Sport Sciences following her senior year. She was president of the Wingate chapter of the Phi Epsilon Kappa honorary fraternity. Bossi was a member of the Wingate Student Government Association Athletics Committee.

Bossi participated in the Wingate University Summer Research Program during the summer of 2009. Her project (The Prevalence of the Female Athlete Triad Syndrome among College Women) was presented at the NCAAHPERD regional convention and the National Conference of Undergraduate Research in Missoula, Mont.

"Jennifer Bossi is always a team player," Wingate head coach Dr. Dennis Johnson says. "She spent four years on our starting seven. She was a member of an NCAA national meet qualifying team in 2007."

Harbold, a junior from Ephrata, Pa., is a two-time All-SAC performer. She placed 17th in the 2007 league meet. Harbold earned a number nine finish in the 2009 event. During her junior year, she recorded three top 10 finishes and five top 20 placements. Her top 2009 times include a 21:02 5K at the SAC meet and a 25:36 6K at the NCAA regionals.

Harbold only finished four races in 2008 due to injuries. In 2007, she posted a career-best 5K time of 20:21 at the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational. Harbold recorded a career-best 25:31 6K on two occasions. The same season, Harbold helped Wingate qualify for the 2007 NCAA nationals as a team. The Bulldogs won their first-ever SAC title in 2007. Harbold was a member of the SAC All-Freshman team the same year.

The niece of Wingate head football coach Joe Reich, Harbold is very active in the community through her involvement in the Alpha Xi Delta sorority and the Wingate University Student Government Association (three years each). She is also a member of Wingate's Campus Outreach organization. A Marketing major, Harbold holds a 3.79 GPA.

"Our coaching staff is excited that Alicia has another year of eligibility remaining," Johnson says. "She gives maximum effort every day. It is no accident Alicia was a member of Wingate's All-Decade team for the 2000s."

Student-athletes selected for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. They must possess at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.00 scale). They must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and must have completed at least one full academic year at his or her institution.

2010 ESPN The Magazine
Women's Cross Country and Track and Field
Academic All-District III
College Division First Team

Whitney Bishoff, ANDERSON, So., Winder, Ga., 4.00, Undecided
Jennifer Bossi, WINGATE, Sr., Bristol, Conn., 3.85, Athletic training
Amanda Doyle, FRANCIS MARION, Sr., Laurens, S.C., 3.81, Accounting
Kate Griewisch, LENOIR-RHYNE, So., Banner Elk, N.C., 3.83, Biology
Alicia Harbold, WINGATE, Jr., Ephrata, Pa., 3.79, Marketing
Michelle Leaman, EASTERN MENNONITE, Sr., Broadway, Va., 4.00, Spanish / education (pre K-12)
Ashley Meyer, LYNCHBURG, Sr., Springfield, Mo., 3.96, Biomedical science
Christina Rhodes, BRIDGEWATER, Jr., Dayton, Va., 4.00, Liberal studies
April Robinson, FLAGLER, So., St. Augustine, Fla., 4.00, Elementary education
Kristy Zeiler, METHODIST, Jr., Lutherville, Md., 4.00, Biology