Illinois Wesleyan senior Kerry Devitt and junior Liz Ave Maria have earned cross country All-Academic status for the 2009 season for their efforts in the classroom and on nation's cross country courses, announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Thursday, Feb. 25.

The USTFCCCA All-Academic award honored 188 student-athletes who have succeeded both academically and athletically this fall. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.3 cumulative grade-point average and must finish in the top 35 among the field at their respective NCAA regional meet.

In 2009, Devitt (Tower Lakes, Ill., Carmel HS) became only the second IWU runner to earn entry into NCAA Division III national meet after finishing ninth (21:46) in the NCAA Midwest regional meet . She was a USTFCCCA all-region honoree and was the first woman in IWU history to win the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin cross country meet (23:15.3). She is an English/history major at Illinois Wesleyan.

Ave Maria (Morton Grove, Ill., Regina Dominican HS) is a chemistry and psychology major who finished 22nd (22:26) in NCAA Midwest regional meet and earned USTFCCCA all-region honors. She also finished fifth in the CCIW championships with a time of 24:04.4.

Senior Marie Borner of Bethel (Minn.) was named as the 2009 Division III female cross country Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2009 season, an honor that goes to the highest individual finisher from the previous year's NCAA Cross Country Championship among those given USTFCCCA All-Academic status.

The USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees represent 92 schools around the country. The list includes 13 who were reported to have 4.0 or better GPAs at the end of the 2009 fall semester: Simone Childs-Walker of Carleton, Kerrin Epstein of Gettysburg, Lolly Plummer of Hendrix, Maria Monks of MIT, Kristyn Zeiler of Methodist, Lauren Hooks of North Central, Alison Steinbrunner of Ohio Northern, Marie Ferro of RPI, Lauren Schultz of Washington and Lee, Liz Phillips of Washington (Mo.), Joy Shufeldt of Whitworth, Kathryn Williams of Whitworth, and Jennifer Gosseles of Williams.

The All-Academic list also includes six who finished in the nation's top 10 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and six of nine regional champions.

Williams College placed six names on the list while four other schools landed five on the list. The University Athletic Association (UAA) paced the nation among all conferences with 19 honorees. The Northwest Conference (NWC) was next with 16.