Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Cross Country's Dillon, Tolli Voted to Academic All-Patriot League Teams
11/8/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 8, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. – While Bucknell cross country is gearing up for this weekend's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships, the Bison claimed yet another set of postseason honors. Dan Dillon (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) and Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) were both named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team on Tuesday. It is the second award of the season for Tolli, who was also a First Team All-Patriot League honoree in October.
The Academic All-Patriot League Team was added for all sports beginning in the 2010-11 season to honor additional student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. The cross country teams have seven student-athletes to equal the size of the sport's All-Patriot League first teams. Student-athletes must have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or a key reserve. Award winners are determined by a vote of the league's sports information directors who cannot vote for their own athletes.
Dillon was named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team for the first time in his career thanks in part to a 3.91 GPA as an interdisciplinary studies major. Dillon focuses his studies in economics and math, and is currently completing his senior thesis examining the relationship between interstate speed limits and road fatalities using econometric models. A member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and Bucknell Dean's List, the senior also interned with Safeco Actuarial Auto Pricing last summer. He is a Presidential Fellow at the University, as well as a member of the Economics Student Search Committee and a teaching assistant in the Economics Department.
Athletically, Dillon has overcome an injury-plagued start to his career and made his way into the varsity seven this season. A co-captain, he scored in each of his first three meets this fall, including placing second overall at the Bucknell Open and 10th at the Duquesne dual meet. He recently placed 74th overall at the Patriot League Championships.
Tolli has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her career as an education and Spanish major as well as a religion minor. The junior was named an Academic All-Patriot League Team selection during the indoor track season last winter and followed it up with a Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team citation in the spring. A member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, Bucknell Dean's List and Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Tolli received the President's Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement and the Charles F. White Memorial Prize for Student-Athletes this fall.
Away from the classroom, Tolli ran the best race of her career at the 2011 Patriot League Championships. After entering Bucknell primarily as a track athlete, she added cross country to her resume and placed fifth overall last month at the league meet. The finish earned her the first All-Patriot League nod of her career for cross country. She also had two other top-10 finishes this season, including fifth place at the Bucknell Open and 10th at a tri-meet with Duquesne and Pittsburgh.
Earning the titles of 2011 Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year was Evans Kosgei of Lehigh on the men's side and Elise DeRoo of Colgate for the women.
Since the Patriot League Championships in which the Bison men placed fifth and the women were second, Bucknell has been preparing for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. The meet is slated for a 12 p.m. start at Maryland-Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Md.
Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete: Evans Kosgei, Sr., Lehigh
Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete: Elise DeRoo, Sr., Colgate
Men's Cross Country Academic All-Patriot League Team
John Pope, So., American
Michael Mitchell, Sr., Army
Dan Dillon, Sr., Bucknell
Chris Johnson, Jr., Colgate
Evans Kosgei, Sr., Lehigh
James Pearson, Sr., Navy
Cody Rome, Sr., Navy
Women's Cross Country Academic All-Patriot League Team
Chelsea Prahl, Sr., Army
Caroline Tolli, Jr., Bucknell
Elise DeRoo, Sr., Colgate
Rose Willey, So., Lafayette
Katherine Pierce, Sr., Lehigh
Brigid Byrne, Jr., Navy
Katie Taylor, Sr., Navy
