Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2015

28 | Cedarville Magazine Track All-American Runner Focuses on Continued Success Carsyn Koch ’18, from Washburn, Maine, became Cedarville University’s first female NCAA All-American in any sport during this past spring track and field season. Koch placed second in the 800-meter run at the 2015 NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Koch, as a freshman, broke her own school record with a time of 2:05.21. “Carsyn made the most of her opportunity by running with confidence and pushing the pace right from the beginning,” noted Head Coach Jeff Bolender ’91. “In all her races in the outdoor season, she was beaten by only one collegiate athlete in an individual race, and that was in the NCAA final at the national championship.” Koch joins Matt Brooker ’14 (2013 men’s cross country) as Cedarville’s only NCAA All- Americans to date. The Yellow Jackets just completed their third active year of Division II membership. During the spring track and field season, Koch also broke a school record in the indoor 500meters and was part of record-setting performances in the indoor distance medley and the outdoor 4-x-800 open, 400, 800, and 1,500. “Carsyn is hard-working, humble, motivated, and focused in her training and racing,” Bolender said. “She is a joy to work with and a wonderful Christian young lady.” Record Number of Athletes Earn Academic Honor One hundred and one. That’s how many Cedarville varsity athletes were named to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Academic All-Conference Team, representing more than half of all sophomore through senior varsity athletes at Cedarville. The 2014–15 G-MAC Academic All-Conference Team was composed of a record 416 student-athletes from nine member institutions while covering 18 championship-sponsored sports. For the third consecutive year, Cedarville University had a conference-high number of student-athlete selections, while Trevecca Nazarene University was second with 57 honorees. There were 282 Cedarville varsity athletes in 16 NCAA Division II sports for the 2014–2015 school year. Since only sophomore through senior varsity student-athletes are considered for the honor, Cedarville’s total eligible number was 201. There were 81 freshmen participating in varsity sports last year. To be named to the G-MAC Academic All-Conference Team, a student-athlete’s cumulative grade point averagemust be aminimum of 3.30 based on the 4.0 system, and he or she must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing while completing at least one full academic year at the nominating institution. Carsyn Koch ’18 runs at the front of the pack in the NCAA 800-meter final. Photo by Kyle Terwillegar