May 31, 2012
TEMPE - The Arizona State University track and field team had four student-athletes earn Capital One Academic All-District VIII first team honors for the 2012 cross country and track and field season, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Thursday morning.
The ASU men posted three first team honorees while the women had one. The list includes three seniors and one junior with John Kline and Jamie Sandys the senior honorees for the men while Cj Navarro was honored on the women's side. Junior Nick Happe rounded out the Sun Devil selections.
On the men's side, the three selections were tied for most in District VIII - which included all Pac-12 schools with the exception of Colorado - alongside Stanford. No other team posted more than one entry. This was just the fourth time in ASU history that the Sun Devil men had posted three student-athletes to the All-Academic district team.
With their selections to the District VIII First Team, all four are now eligible to earn Capital One Academic All-America honors, which will be announced later this month. The selections for all four Sun Devils gives the cross country/track and field program at least one District VIII selection since 2005 while the three men's selections gives the program at least two honorees in each of the past five seasons. The three first-team accolades for the men's program continues a streak of six years in a row in which two Sun Devil men were voted to the first team. Overall, 13 women and 10 men have combined to earn 38 total District VIII accolades dating back to the 2001 season. Of those 38 selections, 27 were to the first team in the district.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution and have competed in over 50 percent of the team's competitions on the year.
For Navarro, this is her second selection to the All-District team and wraps up a prestigious career for the local product. Navarro - who originally came to ASU as a walk-on out of Desert Ridge HS in Mesa, Ariz. - earned her Master's Degree in Educational Technology in five years and did so with a 4.08 cumulative GPA in the process. In 2011, Navarro was named to the Pac-10 All-Academic First Team and also earned All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA and the MPSF in the process. In 2010, Navarro was honored on the CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII team as well and was a first-team All-Academic Pac-10 selection in 2010 and second-team selection in 2009.
Navarro has scored at the conference level in both the hammer (three times) and discus (four) competitions is each of her four competition years at ASU, tallying 30 points at the Pac-12 Championships over the course of her tenure. Navarro was the 2010 Pac-12 discus champion and in 2009, was an NCAA All-American in the event despite her walk-on status at the time. Navarro finished her career ranked fourth in ASU history in the hammer throw and sixth in the indoor weight throw. Navarro added four points to ASU's team tally at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships as she moved into seventh spot in both the discus and hammer throw competitions on her final throws of the events.
It was the second consecutive All-District selection for Sandys, who was also named as a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2011 as well. Sandys - also a local product out of Chaparral HS in Phoenix - finished his career having earned Pac-10 First-Team All-Academic honors in 2010 and 2011 and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII team and the Academic All-American Second-Team in 2011 as well as the USTFCCCA All-Academic team in 2011. Sandys is a two-time point-scorer in the decathlon for the ASU men at the conference championships and has posted the 10th-best score in school history of 7,061. Sandys was seventh at the Pac-12 Championships this year and graduated with a 4.09 GPA and a double major in Anthropology and Sociology.
For Kline - another local product out of Desert Vista HS in Phoenix - it was the first time being honored as part of the CoSIDA All-Academic team. During Kline's tenure, he has been named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team twice, has been a two-time MPSF All-Academic selection and was named All-Academic First Team for the Pac-10 in 2011 and second team in 2010. Kline finished his career with a 4.03 GPA in Kinesiology and earned the ASU Alumni Outstanding Graduate Award and Mouer Award from the School of Nutrition. Kline finished seventh at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships at 800 meters and clocked ASU's fourth-fastest indoor 800-meter time in 1:49.85 this year. In addition, Kline helped lead the ASU men's 4x400-meter relay team to a berth in the NCAA semifinals set to take place in Des Moines, Iowa, next weekend.
Happe was also a first-time honoree on the CoSIDA All-District team after posting a 4.09 GPA in Finance through his junior year. Over the course of the 2011-12 cross country and track season, Happe earned First-Team Pac-12 All-Academic for cross country and MPSF Indoor T&F All-Academic honors. In addition, Happe was an NCAA Second-Team All-American in the mile indoors and an USTFCCCA All-West Region competitor during the cross country season. Happe has posted bests on the year of 3:46.27 at 1500 meters, 3:58.73 in the mile and 7:55.08 at 3,000 meters - the latter two ranking in the top five in ASU history indoors in those events.
Kline is the lone selection still competing this season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships set to take place June 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. Kline will compete as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team. The Sun Devils posted 15 total entries into the NCAA Championship meet with nine student-athletes competing as individuals in 12 events in addition to the three relays that will see action.
All-Time Academic All-District VIII Selections for Arizona State
Men
2012: John Kline (1st team), Nick Happe (1st team), Jamie Sandys (1st team)
2011: Ben Engelhardt (1st team), Jamie Sandys (1st team)
2010: Brandon Bethke (1st team), Jason Lewis (1st team), Ryan Whiting (1st team)
2009: Jason Lewis (1st team), Ryan Whiting (1st team), Ben Engelhardt (2nd team)
2008: Justin Kremer (1st team), Ryan Whiting (1st team), Jason Lewis (2nd team)
2005: Kal Clark (1st team)
2001: Marcus Brunson (2nd team)
Women
2012: Cj Navarro (1st team)
2011: Samantha Henderson (2nd team)
2010: Cj Navarro (1st team), Angela Spadafino (1st team), Dominique' Maloy (2nd team)
2009: Ali Kielty (1st team), Sarah Stevens (1st team)
2008: April Kubistha (1st team), Sarah Stevens (1st team), Ali Kielty (2nd team)
2007: Brooke Bennett (2nd team), April Kubishta (2nd team), Sarah Stevens (2nd team)
2006: Brooke Bennett (1st team), Rachel Ellison (1st team), Victoria Jackson (2nd team)
2005: Jennifer Kowacz (1st team)
2003: Lisa Aguilera (1st team)
2002: Lisa Aguilera (1st team), Kelly MacDonald (1st team)
2001: Lisa Aguilera (1st team), Kelly MacDonald (2nd team)