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Cedarville Magazine
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Women’s Cross Country Honored With Top Awards
Olivia Esbenshade ’17, Olivia Kundo ’20, and Head Coach Jeff
Bolender ’91 took home top honors from the 2016 Ohio NCAA
Division II/National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
Women’s Cross Country season.
Esbenshade was named Runner of the Year, Kundo earned
Freshman Runner of the Year, and Bolender was recognized as
Coach of the Year.
The trio achieved the honors in voting by the state’s cross
country coaches.
Esbenshade, from Marietta, Pennsylvania, placed sixth out of
295 competitors in the All-Ohio Championship. Cedarville finished
third of 43 schools — the team’s best performance since winning the
trophy in 2008.
Esbenshade later won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference
(G-MAC) title. She helped the Lady Jackets to their first-ever NCAA
Division II Championship, where they placed 11th in the country.
Kundo, fromLiberty Center, Ohio, finished 21st in the All-Ohio.
She was eighth in the league meet for All-G-MAC recognition.
Bolender’s award is his third of the year. He was the U.S. Track &
Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II Midwest
Region Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Jackets to a runner-
up finish.
Bolender also grabbed G-MAC Coach of the Year honors
after Cedarville retained the conference trophy for the fifth
consecutive season.
NCAA Recognizes Cedarville With Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence
With an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 93 percent, Cedarville tied
for 11th in the nation out of 323 Division II schools.
Cedarville University is one of 26 Division II schools in the
country honored by the NCAA with its prestigious Presidents’
Award for Academic Excellence.
The program commends institutions for achieving four-year
ASRs of 90 percent or higher. The ASR calculates how student-
athletes are making satisfactory progress toward a degree.
“We were so pleased to learn
that Cedarville University has
again placed near the top of the
annual rankings for academic
success and graduation rates
for NCAA Division II schools,”
said University Registrar
Fran Campbell.
“ T h i s i m p r e s s i v e
achievement clearly reflects
the strong emphasis that
Cedarville athletics places on
academic excellence, as well
as the quality of our athletic program. What a great benefit for our
student-athletes!”
Davis & Elkins College, with an ASR of 91 percent, is the other
current Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) member to
be listed.
Two universities joining the G-MAC in 2017–18 — Hillsdale
College (98) and the University of Findlay (90) —were also honored
for having ASRs of at least 90 percent.
Cedarville was also recognized for its Federal Graduation Rate
(FGR). The FGR computes the percentage of student-athletes
who earned their degree in the six-year window from the 2009–
10 academic year through 2014–15. Cedarville is tied for 18th
nationally in FGR at 74 percent.
“The ASR and FGR are more indicators of the quality education
that our student-athletes receive at Cedarville University,” said
Christopher Cross, Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance.
“Thanks to our excellent faculty, who challenge our student-
athletes academically,” he added. “They along with the staff make
the 1,000 days our student-athletes spend on campus a wonderful
educational experience.”
Olivia Esbenshade ’17
Olivia Kundo ’20
Jeff Bolender ’91