Pierce named to Academic All-Patriot League Team
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Women's Cross Country
Posted: 11/08/2011
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Katherine Pierce was named to the Cross Country Academic All-League Team, as announced by the league on Tuesday. It is Pierce’s second time as a member. The Alfred, Maine native earned All-Patriot League First Team honors after finishing second overall at the 2011 Championships. Pierce not only has excelled on the course, but in the classroom as well.
Pierce’s All-Patriot honor was her third of her illustrious Lehigh career as she has been the Mountain Hawks front runner all season long. She started the year with a 12th-place finish at the Iona Meet of Champions with a time of 23:02.52 and was one of just three seniors in the Top 12 to lead Lehigh to a fifth-place finish. Pierce then led Lehigh to a victory at the Lehigh-Lafayette dual in which she won with a time of 21:54.6. Pierce was also Lehigh’s top finisher at the Paul Short Run with a 66th-place finish and a time of 21:44.
When she isn’t flying by runners on the course, Pierce is working hard in the classroom. She owns a 3.51 cumulative grade point average and is in Lehigh’s IDEAS (Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts and Science) program and is focusing on architecture and design arts with some civil engineering mixed in. She also has a minor in Jewish Studies.
Outside of the classroom, Pierce is the Founder and Leader of the Jewish Student-Athlete Group and is the Co-Chair of the Student-Athlete Alumni Relations Board.
To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or students in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.
Colgate senior Elisa DeRoo was named the Patriot League Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete for the second year in a row. Joining DeRoo and Pierce on the Academic All-League Team is Army senior Chelsea Prahl, Bucknell junior Caroline Tolli, Lafayette sophomore Rose Willey, Navy junior Brigid Byrne and Navy senior Katie Taylor.
Pierce and the rest of the Mountain Hawks will head to Princess Anne, Md. Saturday for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Qualifiers at 12:15 p.m. Lehigh finished nine at last year’s event while Pierce finished just outside of the Top 25 which would have qualified her for a possible NCAA at-large selection. She finished her best NCAA regional performance in 27th with a time of 21:34, but will surely be looking to crack that Top 25 this year.
Lehigh is ranked No. 13 in the Mid-Atlantic Region.