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Baclawski Named Patriot League Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
AU junior earns second award of the year; seven other Eagles placed on Academic Honor Roll

July 1, 2003

Jen Baclawski earned the second Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award of her career.

WASHINGTON — For the second time this year, American University junior Jennifer Baclawski (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) was named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, this time for women’s outdoor track and field. Baclawski was also named scholar-athlete of the year in cross country last fall.

A scholar-athlete nominee must have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) and be a starter or a key player in his/her sport. Baclawski is the third AU student-athlete to win two Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards and the fifth to earn the honor this year. A health promotion major, she holds a 3.78 cumulative GPA and earned a 3.94 in the spring semester.

Baclawski placed third at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships in the 10,000m, running 37:11.79 to move to second all-time at AU. She also posted a fourth-place finish in the 5000m at the Bison Outdoor Classic to move to third all-time. Baclawski has earned a spot on the Dean’s List all six semesters at American while also making the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll the past two years.

Joining Baclawski on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll was senior All-American Samia Akbar (Herndon, Va./Oakton), who concluded her career as the most decorated women’s track athlete in school history. Junior Leah Heinecke-Krumhus (Suwanee, Ga./Batavia) also earned a spot on the honor roll for the fourth time in her career.

Sophomore Whitney McNees (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) was named to the Academic Honor Roll along with freshmen Katherine Bassler (Torrington, Conn./Torrington), Keira Carlstrom (Oakton, Va./Oakton), Catie Poppe (Reston, Va./Bishop Ireton) and Zaia Wharton (Elkins, W. Va./Elkins).

To be eligible for the academic honor roll, a student-athlete must earn a 3.20 GPA in the spring semester and be awarded a varsity letter in one of the six winter and nine spring League-sponsored championship sports.

American University, which fields a 19-sport NCAA Division I athletics program featuring 10 women’s sports and nine for men, recently completed its second year of membership in the Patriot League. Since joining the Patriot League, the University has captured league championships in men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball, and a regular-season title in men’s basketball.

Chartered by an Act of Congress in 1893, American University features students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 160 nations worldwide.