Jensen Repeats As Academic All-American
MOORHEAD, Minn. (6/25/13)—Kaari Jensen became only the fourth athlete in the history of Concordia athletics to earn back-to-back Capital One Academic All-American honors it was announced on Tuesday. She was also one of only two MIAC women's track and field athletes to be honored with the Academic All-American Women's Track/Cross Country Team First Team award.
Complete List of Capital One Academic All-Americans (pdf)
Jensen also becomes the third Concordia athlete to win Academic All-American honors in the 2012-2013 sports season which ties the Cobber record for most Academic All-Americans in a single sports year. She joins Cobber football players Brett Baune and Brett Harmelink who earned the prestigious award in the fall. It is also the 18th time a Concordia athlete has won Academic All-American honors in the past 10 years. Concordia has had at least one athlete capture Academic All-American honors in each of the past 10 years.
Jensen joins fellow track and field alumni Renee Erickson, Micah Benson and Angie Pfeiffer as the only Cobber athletes to earn the top student/athlete award given out by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The honor caps Jensen's illustrious career which saw her earn consecutive All-American honors in the heptathlon as well as being named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Central Region Field Athlete of the Year in her junior and senior seasons. In addition to her national and regional success Jensen also owns the MIAC heptathlon record as well as the Cobber pentathlon and heptathlon records.
Jensen recently finished her studies and Concordia and earned her Bachelor's Degree while majoring in Communication Studies and Public Relations. She carried a 3.82 grade point average and earned Academic All-Conference honors for three straight seasons.
Formerly known as the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American honor, Capital One took over the sponsorship of the CoSIDA Academic All-American award program last year. CoSIDA began this program in the 1950's, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports and across all divisions with these elite Capital One Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors. Currently, CoSIDA honors Academic All-Americans in 12 sports.
To be eligible for Academic 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.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
Past Cobber Academic All-American Honorees
1991 - Chris Reimertz – Football
1992 - Kristi Farver - Women's Track & Field
1992 - Kris Kuehl - Women's Track & Field
1996 - Renee Erickson - Women's Track & Field
1997 - Renee Erickson - Women's Track & Field
1998 - Bob Zacher – Football
1999 - Micah Benson - Men's Track & Field
1999 - Laura Utke - Women's Track & Field
2000 - Micah Benson - Men's Track & Field
2004 - Jordan Talge – Football
2004 - Jessica Walden - Women's Volleyball
2005 - Angie Pfeiffer - Women's Track and Field
2006 - Annie Cullen - Women's Swimming and Diving
2006 - Natalie Hanson - Women's Track & Field
2006 - Angie Pfeiffer - Women's Track & Field
2007 - Grant Weller – Football
2008 - Melanie Hageman - Women's Basketball
2008 - Justin Foss - Men's Soccer
2008 - Levi DeVries – Football
2009 - Sam Johnson - Women's Soccer
2009 - Erika Swenson - Women's Soccer
2010 - Riley McGlynn - Men's Soccer
2011 - Erica Nord - Women's Basketball
2012 - Kaari Jensen - Women's Track & Field
2012 - Brett Baune – Football
2012 - Brett Harmelink – Football
2013 - Kaari Jensen - Women's Track & Field