Utah State’s Erin Stratton Earns Academic All-American Accolades
Utah State women’s track and field student-athlete Erin Stratton was named to the third-team 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and announced Thursday.
Stratton, a senior from Aurora, Colo., (Smoky Hill HS) has a 3.98 grade-point average in exercise science. During her USU career, she was a five-time Western Athletic Conference Indoor Champion in the 1,500m (2008), mile (2009), 3,000m (2009) and distance medley (2009, 2010). In all, she earned first-team all-WAC honors a total of 10 times and academic all-WAC honors eight times during her USU career.
“It’s an honor, and it feels really good to be rewarded for being both a student and an athlete and for all the time and hard work that goes into both,” Stratton said.
Stratton was the recipient of the Joe E. and Elma Whitesides Scholar-Athlete Award. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in December of 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a minor in psychology. She was the valedictorian of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department with a 3.98 cumulative grade point average. Stratton is currently taking graduate courses to prepare for her master’s in physician assistant studies.
“Erin has been a role model for our program each of the last four years both as a student and an athlete, and she is the epitomizes the term ‘student-athlete.’ The reason she has success in the classroom and on the track is because of her work ethic and dedication. She has a great understanding of how to maintain balance in her life and never has to reallocate time because of her planning. Erin has been a tremendous ambassador for Utah State University as both a student and athlete during her career,” said USU veteran head coach Gregg Gensel.
Gensel said that he will truly miss Stratton, but pointed out that she has left her mark on Utah State track and field program.
“She is the person that every coach wants to coach. She’s extremely coachable, works hard on the track and in classroom and is the perfect teammate. She helps the younger student-athletes in everything they do,” Gensel said.
Stratton becomes the first Academic All-America® honoree for Utah State since fellow women’s track and field student-athlete Rebekah Thornley in 2001, who was also a third-team selection. Overall, Stratton is the 23rd Academic All-America® selection for Utah State and the eighth female. She becomes the ninth Aggie third-team honoree. Additionally, Stratton is the sixth USU track and field student-athlete to earn Academic All-America® honors and the fourth female track and field student-athlete.
“Its pretty cool to represent Utah State for a prestigious honor like this,” Stratton said from Marietta, Ohio, where she started her physician’s assistant program at Marietta (Ohio) College last week. “It’s nice to get Utah State’s name out there across the country.”
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized biweekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.