A total of nine student-athletes from WAC schools were named to the 2010-11 Academic All-District Track & field/Cross Country teams.
Academic All-District
First Team
Steven Atkinson, Sr., Utah State
Daniel Howell, Jr., Utah State
Second Team
Jeremiah Dubie, Jr., Idaho
Eric Follett, So., Utah State
Markus Geiger, Jr., Idaho
Carly Gerard Sr., Boise State
Katelyn Heiner, Jr., Utah State
Jeremy Klas, Jr., Idaho
Eugenio Mannucci, Sr., Idaho
Atkinson, a native of Malad, Idaho, qualified with a 3.92 GPA while majoring in entreprenuership. He earned first-team all-WAC honors in 2009 and 2011 in the 3,000m steeplechase, finishing third each time. He was also a second-team all-WAC honoree in 2009 during the outdoor season in the 5,000m and during the cross country season. Atkinson has earned academic all-WAC honors a total of five times during his collegiate career.
Howell, a Manti, Utah native, has a GPA of 3.95 in the wildlife sciences. He is an eight-time first-team all-WAC honoree during his cross country and track career as he won the 3,000m steeplechase at the 2011 Indoor Championships and placed second in the 5,000m. During the 2011 Outdoor Championships, he placed second in the 3,000m steeplechase and third in the 5,000m along with earning first-team all-WAC honors twice in 2010 by placing second in the 3,000m (indoor) and third in the 5,000m (outdoor) and being a two-time first-team all-WAC recipient in cross country. He also earned second-team all-WAC honors three times overall and academic all-WAC honors five times along with being a 2010 CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree.
Dubie is a third-year Vandal distance runner and cross country athlete from Kearsage, N.H., who holds a 3.94 grade-point average in Food Science. He earned three second-team all-Western Athletic Conference honors this season, two indoors and one outdoors. He took fourth in the 5000m and fifth in the 3000m at the WAC Indoor Championships and then finished fourth in the 10,000m with the ninth-fastest time in school history (30:52.39). In the cross country season, Dubie scored for Idaho in five of the team's six meets, including four times at the No. 3 finisher spot.
Follett, a native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is majoring in Spanish and has a GPA of 3.92. Follett earned first-team all-WAC honors during the 2011 indoor and outdoor seasons, placing third in the high jump each time. He also earned second-team all-WAC honors during the 2010 outdoor season as he finished sixth in the high jump along with garnering academic all-WAC honors in 2010.
Geiger was the 2011 WAC Men's Indoor Track Co-Performer of the Year, the 2009 WAC Indoor Men's Freshman of the Year and 2008 WAC Men's Cross Country Freshman of the Year. He is from Bad Neustadt, Germany, and is majoring in Electrical Engineering with a 3.84 cumulative GPA. He led Idaho with 18 points at the WAC Indoor Championships this year after winning the 5000m and taking second in the 3000m. He was Idaho's top cross country finisher in three of the team's six meets, including the WAC Championships, where he took third overall. He is a seven-time first-team all-WAC honoree and a two-time WAC Athlete of the Week.
Gerard, who holds a 3.95 GPA in exercise science biomechanics, was one of the 2010 Boise State Cross Country team's top-seven runners all season, including a 2010 NCAA regional qualifier. She was also a 2011 WAC Indoor and Outdoor Championship competitor. She is also a seven-time All-Western Athletic Conference Academic honoree (3 cross country, 2 indoor track, 2 outdoor track) and a 10-time WAC Championship meet qualifier (4 cross country, 3 indoor track, 3 outdoor track).
Heiner, an Ogden, Utah native, has a 3.97 GPA while majoring in interdisciplinary studies. She is a four-time first-team all-WAC recipient including twice during the 2011 indoor season as she finished second in the 400m and third on the 4X400 relay team. She also earned second-team all-WAC honors seven times during her career along with four academic all-WAC accolades.
Jeremy Klas rewrote the Idaho record book during the indoor season with a school-record clearance of 17-9 (5.41m) in the pole vault and a second-consecutive trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he earned USTFFFCA Honorable Mention All-America recognition. The Moscow, Idaho, native posted a 3.52 GPA in Computer Science. He is a five-time first-team all-WAC honoree and three-time WAC champion in the vault. He is the only man in Idaho history to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the event, and he's done it in consecutive years. His 17-9 vault this indoor season was tied for fifth in the NCAA and 11th overall in the U.S. He was a 2010 Second-Team Academic All-District pick and is a two-time USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic honoree.
Mannucci is a senior from Viterbo, Italy, who graduated in December with a 3.75 GPA in Animal and Veterinary Science (Pre-Vet). He is a three-time WAC champion in the shot put and a five-time first-team all-WAC honoree. He won both the indoor and outdoor WAC shot put titles in 2011 and last weekend, booked his second-straight trip to the NCAA Championships final round.
To be eligible for the award a student-athlete must hold a 3.3 cumulative G.P.A. or above and must have completed one full year at his or her institution (no freshmen or transfers are eligible). The student-athlete must also have competed in the majority of their team's competitions and have been a starter or major contributor to the team.