HPU’s O’Donoghue, Rickert Named Capital One Academic All-District

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University track & field student-athletes Christine Rickert and Paul O’Donoghue have been named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team, the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Friday.

It marks the first time that O’Donoghue and Rickert have received the prestigious honor. As all-district selections, both student-athleres automatically earn a spot on the Capital One Academic All-America ballot. The first-, second- and third-team All-America selections will be announced in late June.

Rickert is the first Capital One Academic All-District selection in HPU women’s track & field history, while O’Donoghue joins Tomas Kovacs (2007, 2008) as the only HPU men’s honorees.

Rickert won the 2015 Big South javelin title with a school record throw of 49.53m (162-6) on May 14 inside Vert Stadium. The victory was one of five javelin titles won by Rickert in 2015. She was a two-time Big South Field Athlete of the Week and broke her own school record on three occasions during the year. Rickert is seeded No. 13 in the East Region after putting the finishing touches on a spectacular 2015 regular season. She is a two-time All-Big South selection and has made the NCAA Preliminary Round in each of her first three years in an HPU uniform.

Rickert maintains a 3.93 GPA while majoring in Spanish at HPU.

O’Donoghue captured the Big South 800m title at the 2015 Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 16 in High Point. A 10-time all-Big South selection, the Franklin, Mass., native ran the fastest 800m time in the Big South this outdoor season (1:50.99) and finished second in the 800m run during the Big South Indoor Championship. He won four individual event titles during the 2014-15 track & field season.

O’Donoghue has posted a cumulative 3.9 GPA while majoring in mathematics during his first three years at High Point University.

Women’s Track & Field District 3 Selections (Division I)
Kaitlyn Kramer, North Carolina State
Hannah Dickinson, Virginia Military Institute
Teresa Williamson, Radford
Jacy Christiansen, Liberty
Sarah Howard, North Carolina
Chelsea Blasse, Tennessee
Christine Rickert, High Point University
Kelsey Rea, Campbell
Cameron Overstreet, North Carolina
Barbara Lee Ball, Lipscomb
Cassie Wertman, Tennessee

Men’s Track & Field District 3 Selections (Division I)
Patrick O’Brien, Chattanooga
Adam Chase, East Tennessee State
Paul O’Donoghue, High Point University
John Sherret, Liberty
Luis Hanssler, Memphis
Steve Feister, Liberty
David Scouten, Liberty
John Gilpin, Chattanooga
Torben Laidig, Virginia Tech
Jonathan Addison, North Carolina State

To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-District and 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.