June 23, 2017

Erin Finn was named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for the 2016-17 women's track and field / cross country seasons. This marks the second consecutive season Finn has been named a first-team Academic All-American. Finn is the third Wolverine -- all from the track and field / cross country programs -- to earn the award, joining two-time winner Lindsey Gallo and Kevin Sullivan.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan senior Erin Finn was voted Academic All-American of the Year for women's track and field / cross country and named to the Academic All-America first team for the second consecutive season, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Friday (June 23).

On the combined strength of her national runner-up showings during the indoor track and field / cross country seasons and her near-flawless cumulative undergraduate grade point average as a standout biochemistry student, Finn was selected from among the Academic All-District honorees announced this May in a vote by the CoSIDA Academic All-America committee.

Already among the best-of-the-best in Michigan track and field / cross country history based on her record in competition, Finn now joins a select group in school history who have earned this highest academic distinction that now numbers three: Finn, two-time winner Lindsey Gallo (2004-05) and current men's cross country coach Kevin Sullivan (1998).

Finn's honor marks the seventh time in the past eight years that U-M has had at least one honoree named to the first, second or third team.

Finn was twice an individual national runner-up during the 2016-17 academic year, which culminated in the completion of her undergraduate biochemistry degree with an impeccable 3.98 GPA. For her efforts in the classroom, she earned the 2017 American Institute of Chemists Award for Biochemistry.

She attained this excellence in the classroom while continuing to assert herself as one of the nation's premier long-distance runners.

Finn competed for the Wolverines during both the cross country and indoor track and field seasons in 2016-17, amassing a near-peerless competitive resume that included national runner-up finishes in both sports, a Big Ten title and a regional title.

In cross country, she finished second in the country at the NCAA Championships to lead Michigan to a narrow runner-up national team finish -- tied for the best team finish in program history with the 1994 runner-up squad. Along the way, she won individual Big Ten and Great Lakes Regional titles with team trophies to match.

Indoors, she became the first woman in collegiate history to run 15:30 or faster over 5,000 meters at two consecutive NCAA Indoor Championship meets as she finished as the national runner-up at that distance. She was third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at both 3,000 and 5,000 meters.

Though her 2017 NCAA outdoor track and field season came to a premature conclusion, she returned for her outdoor debut at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships Thursday night (June 22) with a Michigan- and Big Ten-record 32:00.46 clocking over 10,000 meters to finish sixth overall and move to No. 9 on the all-time collegiate performers list.

Finn will return for one final year in both indoor and outdoor track in 2018 as she pursues a master's of public health degree in epidemiology.

CoSIDA Release

Communications Contact: Kyle Terwillegar

View original post here:
Finn Named Academic All-American of the Year for Women's Track and Cross Country - MGoBlue