The University of Akron Athletics
Garcia Jou Chosen as CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-America Honoree
June 24 | Track & Field
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2016 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® DIVISION I WOMEN'S TRACK and FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY TEAM RELEASE
AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron senior high jumper Claudia Garcia Jou (Barcelona, Spain) added another honor to her impressive collegiate resume with her selection to the 2016 Academic All-America® Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field/Cross Country Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Garcia Jou, who maintains a perfect 4.0 grade-point average pursuing a master's degree in exercise science/sports physiology, was one of 15 student-athletes nationally honored as first-team Academic All-Americans for Division I.
"We are very proud of all the significant performances Claudia has had here at the Akron," Akron head track and field coach Dennis Mitchell commented. "She has been the best of the true student-athlete performing high as a jumper and as a graduate student. She deserves all the accolades she is receiving now for her distinguished career at Akron."
A four-time first-team All-America honoree, Garcia Jou earned first-team recognition for the fourth time in her distinguished Akron career finishing tied for third in the women's high jump at the NCAA Championships on June 11 with a mark of 5-11.75 (1.82m).
A two-time Academic All-Mid-American Conference recipient, Garcia Jou was recently named as a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Garcia Jou becomes only the second Zip to garner first-team All-America accolades in the sport of women's track and field for Akron, joining Mary Varga, who was named a first-team honoree in 2003.
The award marks the eighth time in program history in which an Akron women's track and field standout has been selected to the national CoSIDA Academic All-America squads, first-, second- or third-teams, respectively.
Lynn Brant was a second-team recipient in 1993 and 1994 after earning third-team accolades in 1992. Varga placed on the second team in 2001 and 2002 before capturing first-team plaudits in 2003. In 2012, Valerie Frazier, garnered third-team recognition.
