TEN FERRIS STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED GLIAC ALL-ACADEMIC

Bulldogs Among Six League Indoor Track & Field Teams With At Least 10 Selections

Sophomore Mary Miller was one of 10 FSU student-athletes to earn league all-academic team honors

The Ferris State University men’s and women’s indoor track and field squads combined to have 10 student-athletes named to the 2002-03 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) All-Academic Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Teams as announced by the league office.

The selected men’s student-athletes included sophomore Ben Baldwin (Sheridan/Central Montcalm), senior Eric Hincka (Highland/Milford), junior Joe Klein (Pewamo/Pewamo-Westphalia) and senior Steve Picucci (Brighton). Sophomore Abigail Bearman (Port Huron/Northern), senior Jessica Berube (Escanaba), sophomore Stefanie DeLong (Muskegon/Whitehall), senior Adrianne Desenzio (Highland/Milford), sophomore Mary Miller (Sault Ste. Marie) and sophomore Michele Vanderhyde (Howard City/Tri-County) represented the women’s indoor track and field team. Overall, 138 league student-athletes were named to either the men’s or women’s all-academic teams.

To be eligible to receive league all-academic laurels, student-athletes must have attained a cumulative grade point average (gpa) of at least 3.0 or greater (on a 4.0 scale), be a key team member and must not be a freshman or first-year college transfer. Grand Valley State, the 2002-03 men’s and women’s indoor conference champions, totaled a league-high 38 honorees including 28 women’s selections. Ferris and GVSU were among six schools with 10 or more honorees along with Ashland (31), Findlay (20), Hillsdale (13) and Saginaw Valley State (13).

Picucci, who garnered league indoor all-academic kudos for the third time, currently is a combined 10-time conference all-academic team selection in men’s cross country along with indoor and outdoor track and field. The 2002 All-GLIAC Men’s Cross Country honoree compiled seven top eight performances during the 2002-03 indoor campaign, including a runner-up finish in the 5,000-meter run (15:45.15) at the Lewis Friday Night Series #2 meet (1/31) held in Romeoville, Ill.

Hincka and Klein earned all-academic team recognition for the third time each as they both were previously named to the 2001-02 GLIAC All-Academic Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Teams. Hincka, a 2001-02 All-GLIAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Team selection in the javelin, finished among the top eight performers in the men’s high jump in six indoor meets this campaign. Klein, who competed in six meets this season, registered a seventh-place finish in the men’s 400-meter dash at the Grand Valley State Laker Challenge (2/14) in Allendale, Mich. He also ran both the 200 and 800 meters for FSU this campaign.

A team captain, Desenzio attained her fourth academic all-league award in addition to placing third in the triple jump (34-0.75) at the 2002-03 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships (2/28-3/1) held at University Center, Mich. She set a school and personal career-best in the pole vault (11-0.25) at the GVSU Laker Challenge. Desenzio, who won the pole vault three times this season, was a 2002-03 NCAA-II Provisional National Qualifier.

Berube received conference indoor all-academic team recognition for the third consecutive campaign after posting four top 10 meet efforts this year in the women’s sprint and hurdle events. The 2001-02 league all-academic outdoor track and field team pick tallied a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter hurdles (30.75) at the Lewis Friday Night Series #2 contest. Miller and DeLong, who both were chosen as 2002 GLIAC All-Academic Women’s Cross Country Team recipients, combined to register six top 10 finishes this year. Miller placed among the top five performers in four outings, including a runner-up showing in the 3,000-meter run (10:37.96) at the Central Michigan Jack Skoog Open (2/21) in Mount Pleasant, Mich. DeLong took eighth place in the mile run at the GVSU Laker Challenge with a season-best (6:00.31) performance.

Baldwin, Bearman and Vanderhyde all were named to the all-academic team for the first time. Baldwin competed in the mile run four times and had a top performance of 4:46.40 at the league championships while Bearman placed among the meet’s top 10 competitors in the weight throw three times. She had a season-best toss (30-3) at the Lewis Friday Night Series #2 meet. Vanderhyde finished among the top 10 pole vault meet performers seven times and attained runner-up accolades with a 9-6 jump at the Saginaw Valley State Cardinal Open (1/17) at University Center.

Ferris, which is slated to host the annual Bulldog Outdoor Track and Field Invitational this Saturday (April 12) beginning at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) at FSU’s Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, placed sixth in the women’s competition and eighth in the men’s field at the 2002-03 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships.