Bucknell University Athletics
Pair of Bison Track Stars Chosen as Verizon Academic All-Americans
6/13/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
June 20, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Seniors Kelly McConnell (Danville, Pa./Danville H.S.) and Becki Marshall (Montgomery, N.Y./Pine Bush Central H.S.), standout distance runners on Bucknell's Patriot League champion women's track and cross country teams, were both named Thursday to the Verizon Academic All-America Team for their sports.
Both Bison runners were third team selections, bringing Bucknell's total to 104 national Academic All-Americans since 1970. Only Nebraska and Notre Dame have garnered more selections than Bucknell at the Division I level.
Marshall and McConnell became eligible for the national team after garnering first team all-district honors last month. Both student-athletes were part of a historic senior class that captured 11 out of a possible 12 Patriot League championships in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field over the last four years.
Marshall, a civil engineering major with a 3.79 grade-point average, earned all-district accolades for the second year in a row. An exceptional student, Marshall was honored as the Patriot League Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year three years in a row (1999-2001), and was the Patriot League Women's Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2000-01. She was also a member of the Engineering Honors Fraternity and the ASCE Dean's List.
Marshall won her third straight Patriot League individual cross country title in the fall of 2001, and she led the Bison to their fourth straight Patriot League Cross Country championship. She was named to the Patriot League All-Decade Cross Country Team and paced Bucknell to an appearance in the NCAA Cross Country Championship as a sophomore in 1999. She owns the school record in the outdoor 5,000-meter run and won the gold in the same event as a junior at the Patriot League Championship in 2001.
At the Bucknell Senior Athletic Awards Banquet on April 30, Marshall received the Margaret L. Bryan Award for outstanding achievement in more than one varsity sport.
McConnell is a psychology and religion major with a 3.91 cumulative grade-point average. She was awarded the 2001 Bucknell President's Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement and inducted into BU's Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 2002.
For more than two years, she served as a teacher's assistant for psychological statistics. She was also a student affiliate of the American Psychological Association and participated in the National Psychological Honor Society (Psi Chi) and the National Senior Honor Society (Mortar Board).
Outside the classroom, McConnell made her presence felt as a dominating middle distance runner and a key contributor on the Bison cross country team. A member of seven different Patriot League indoor or outdoor track & field championship teams, she helped the Bison win their fourth straight outdoor league title this spring by placing fifth in the 1,500-meter run and running a leg on the winning 3,200-meter relay team. Indoors, McConnell contributed to BU's fourth Patriot League Indoor Track & Field team title in the last five years this winter by placing second in the mile, fourth in the 1,000 and running on the winning 3,200-meter relay at the league championship meet. At the ECAC Indoor Championships, McConnell ran the 1,600 leg of BU's record-setting distance medley relay that finished sixth and shattered the team record by more than 15 seconds. In cross country season, McConnell helped Bucknell win its fourth straight Patriot League title by finishing eighth at the league championship meet to earn all-league status.
Academic All-America candidates must maintain a 3.20 cumulative GPA with sophomore or greater eligibility and be a starter or key reserve for his or her team.
Marshall and McConnell join Ryan Weber of the men's soccer team and Lauren Titus of the softball team as national Academic All-Americans in 2001-02.
