June 25, 2008

HIAWATHA, IOWA . . . Wartburg College's Hannah Baker (Keota, Iowa/Keota) and University of Dubuque's Jonathan Erickson (Pella, Iowa/Pella) have been named to the ESPN the Magazine College Division Academic All-America® Cross Country/Track & Field Teams as selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). Erickson was named to the Second Team, while Baker was a Third Team selection.

Erickson, a senior with a 3.90 grade point average majoring in flight, figured into the team scoring for the Spartans at the Iowa Conference Championships in cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. He finished 105th overall at the IIAC Cross Country meet, took eighth in the decathlon at the Iowa Conference Outdoor meet and ran on point-scoring 4x400 relays at both the indoor and outdoor IIAC meets.

Baker, a sophomore with a 3.96 GPA majoring in biology, was a part of five winning (indoor 200, indoor and outdoor 200, indoor long jump, outdoor 4x100 relay) and two runner-up (outdoor 200 and outdoor long jump) finishes for Wartburg and was named the Most Valuable Performer at the 2008 IIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Her success was not confined to the local ovals, though, as she was four-time All-American in 2008. Individually, she finished second outdoors and sixth indoors in the 400 and was the anchor leg for both Wartburg's runner-up indoor 4x400 relay and national champion outdoor 4x400 relay.

To be eligible for selection to the Academic All-America® Team, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore academic and athletic standing, be a starter or key reserve and possess at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).

District VII College Division includes NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA schools in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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