Denison University senior Elaine Binkley (Upper
Arlington, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) was named the ESPN The
Magazine Academic All-America® of the Year for the College
Division in Cross Country and Track and Field as selected by the
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Binkley earned the most votes out of a select group of student
athletes who were awarded first-team Academic All-District honors
and advanced to the national ballot. Binkley becomes the third
athlete in Denison University history to garner the prestigious
award. The previous two Academic All-America® of the Year to
suit up for the Big Red was swimmer Kristen Goldthorpe in 1997 and
defensive back Grant Jones, a member of the Denison football team
in 1987.
The award moves Binkley on to the circle of the nation's elite
student athletes where she will have an opportunity to be named the
overall Academic All-America® of the Year. Previous winners of
the CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year include Rebecca
Lobo (Connecticut), Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Ruth Riley (Notre
Dame) and Emeka Okafor (Connecticut). The results of the final
balloting will be announced in mid-July.
Athletes are eligible for Academic All-America® status only
during their sophomore, junior and senior seasons and Binkley is
the first Denison athlete to be named to the Academic
All-America® first-team squad in all three of her eligible
seasons.
"Elaine has enjoyed a spectacular career at Denison," stated
Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Larry
Scheiderer. "Her dedication in the classroom, to her teammates and
to her sport exemplifies all of the traits we look for in a
student. The Academic All-America of the Year award is well
deserved and we wish her nothing but the best as she embarks on her
life after Denison."
A biology major from Upper Arlington, Ohio, Binkley carried a
4.0 grade point average and was the co-valedictorian of the Class
of 2007. She received the Presidential Medal which is the highest
honor bestowed upon a Denison student. She was inducted into the
Denison chapter of Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and was a finalist
for the Rhodes Scholarship. In the fall, Binkley became the 42nd
athlete from Denison to earn the esteemed NCAA Postgraduate
Scholarship. She has been accepted to The Ohio State University
School of Medicine and will begin her graduate work in the fall of
2007.
Binkley was a two-time All-American in cross country and a
12-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection in cross
country and track and field. She captured four conference
championships in track and field and was the NCAC's Most
Outstanding Distance Runner in 2004.
Forty-eight Denison athletes have earned Academic
All-America® status since 1967 and 31 have garnered the award
since 1997 for an average of just over three per year which places
Denison among the nation's leaders.
Created in 1952 by the College Sports Information Directors
of America (CoSIDA), the ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-America® Teams Program is the premier, nationwide college
scholar-athlete awards program. It recognizes over 800 outstanding
student-athletes annually in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering
all NCAA championship sports.
