UNCG Track: Schnell Earns Capital One Academic All-District Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG redshirt senior Ashley Schnell has earned a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District 3 Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Thursday.

Schnell will now go on the ballot for Capital One Academic All-America honors, which will be announced on June 21. Schnell was a third-team Academic All-American last season.

To earn a spot on the all-district team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale); must have completed one full academic year at his or her current institution and reached sophomore athletic eligibility; and must have participated in at least 50 percent of his or her team’s events.

Schnell finished her career with a perfect 4.0 GPA majoring in musical performance.

The academic honor is the latest in a long line of them for Schnell, who has already picked up an NCAA winter sports postgraduate scholarship and the Southern Conference’s Dorothy Hicks Graduate Scholarship this year. She is a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic selection and has earned Academic All-SoCon honors in each of her two years of competition at UNCG. She was the league’s Student-Athlete of the Week three times in 2011-12.

This season, Schnell won her second straight SoCon cross country title to earn SoCon Runner of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. She finished fifth at the NCAA Southeast Regional, in school-record time, to become the first female runner in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships. There, she missed reaching All-America status by just 16 seconds.

In indoor track this season, the Lincoln, Neb., native won SoCon titles in the mile and distance medley relay, setting league records in both events. In outdoor track, she won the SoCon title in the 1,500 meters for the second straight year and qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Round in the 5,000 meters.

She graduated with 10 school records to her credit in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.