The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Three Blazers Selected To C-USA All-Academic Team
6/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 2, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- UAB track and field's Rhiannon Johns, Nora Mehl and Kristina Vaughn were three of 12 athletes tabbed to the women's Conference USA All-Academic Team, the league office announced Wednesday.
The all-academic team was voted on by the league's track and field sports information directors and consists of student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and are a key contributor to their team.
Tulsa led the women's all-academic selections with five athletes, while UAB and Rice both had three athletes.
"Congratulations to Nora, Rhi, and Kristina," UAB interim head coach Kurt Thomas said. "They really represent what a student-athlete is all about, and their dedication to their degrees and sport really shines through. It's easy to look up their results and see that they are successful at running and jumping, but what people don't get a chance to see, is how hard they work and what they accomplish in the classroom. This is really a great honor."
This marks the second time Mehl has been named to the C-USA All-Academic Team. The Rottweil, Germany product owns a 3.85 grade-point average in her major of psychology. She is a three-time C-USA Academic Medal recipient and C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll selection, and has been named to UAB's Dean's List every semester of her career.
This season, Mehl was named C-USA's Athlete of the Week after winning the high jump and provisionally qualifying for the NCAA meet with 1.81 meters (5-11.25) at the LSU Twilight meet. She provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet again after scoring 3,774 points in the pentathlon and taking the event title at the C-USA Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, Mehl claimed a first-place finish in the high jump at the Alabama Relays after leaping 1.79 meters (5-10.50) to own the third-best high jump in C-USA.
Johns, a Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, native boasts a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in her major of mathematics. The sophomore distance runner is a two-time C-USA Academic Medal recipient and C-USA Honor Roll selection. She was named to the 2009 C-USA Cross Country All-Academic Team and has received UAB Presidential Honors (4.0 GPA) and named to UAB's Dean's List every semester of her career.
Johns won the 10,000-meter at the C-USA Outdoor Championships with a time of 35:07.25 and owns the top 10,000-meter time in C-USA after running a personal-record 34:40.30 at the Stanford Invitational. During the indoor season, she took the 3,000-meter title at both the Tiger Paw and Niswonger Invitationals.
Vaughn, a Madison, Ala., product boasts a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in her major of biology. The sophomore distance runner was also named to the 2009 C-USA Cross Country All-Academic Team and is a two-time C-USA Academic Medal recipient and Commissioner's Honor Roll selection. She has also received UAB's Presidential Honors (4.0 GPA) and named to UAB's Dean's List every semester of her career.
Vaughn set a new lifetime best of 10:47.43 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the C-USA Outdoor Championships to place fifth and score for the Blazers. She also placed fourth in the 3,000-meter at the Sea Ray Relays (11:09.45) and in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Alabama Relays (11:13.79). During the indoor season she ran a personal-best 3,000-meter at the Meyo Invitational (10:13.23) and placed sixth in the 3,000-meter at the Niswonger Invitational (10:27.00).
2010 C-USA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM


Name - School - Class - GPA - Major


Kathleen Clark - Marshall - Junior - 4.00 - Marketing
Lauren DeHays - Marshall - Sophomore - 3.71 - Biological Science


*Katie Dollinger - Rice - Senior - 3.84 - Mathematical Economic Analysis (Business minor)


Sophie Peeters - Rice - Sophomore - 4.03 - Kinesiology
*Allison Pye - Rice - Junior - 3.95 - Kinesiology/Policy Studies


*Silje Fjortoft - SMU - Junior - 3.82 - German


Nicolette Taku - Tulane - Senior - 3.80 - Public Health 

*Alex Becker - Tulsa - Senior - 3.69 - Elementary Education


*Caitlin Clancy - Tulsa - Senior - 4.00 - Mechanical Engineering 

Kelsey Klein - Tulsa - Junior - 3.81 - Biology - Pre-Med 

Jennifer Mace - Tulsa - Junior - 3.84 - Exercise Sports Science 

Paula Whiting - Tulsa - Junior - 4.00 - Exercise Sports Science 

Rhiannon Johns - UAB - Sophomore - 4.00 - Mathematics 

* Nora Mehl - UAB - Junior - 3.85 - Psychology
Kristina Vaughn - UAB - Sophomore - 4.00 - Biology



*Repeat Selection
