FROM IDS REPORTS
IU Track and Field athletes Andy Bayer and Chelsea Blanchard earned Academic All-American honors Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive year the program has produced at least one Academic All-American and the second consecutive year it has produced multiple honorees.
"We have had great success in competition since our coaching staff arrived in 2007," IU Track and Field Director and Head Coach Ron Helmer said. "But it is even more rewarding to know that the kids that are succeeding on the track are also thriving in the classroom. We've had nine of these awards come to Bloomington since 2009. It is a sign that we're accomplishing the goal we've set as a program to build strong all-around student-athletes."
Bayer is a junior majoring in biology and has a GPA of 3.61. He won the NCAA 1,500-meter title earlier this month and competed in the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials qualifying round for the 1,500m earlier today, hoping to land a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Last season, Bayer became the first Academic All-American for IU men's track and field.
Blanchard finished her IU career this past season and graduated with a degree in visual arts education. She maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.97.
A native of Fort Wayne, Blanchard was an indoor NCAA qualifier as the anchor of the distance medley relay in 2010, and holds the second-best 5,000-meter time in IU history.
--Joe Popely
