Academic All-District Honors for Dooley, Fahey & Varsell
WALTHAM, Mass. – Three members of the Bentley University women's track and cross country program, including five-time All-America Amy Varsell (Burlington, Conn./Lewis S. Mills HS), have been selected for the 2012-13 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-District 1 track and cross country team by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Varsell was joined on the ten-athlete team by teammates Caitlin Fahey (Bridgewater/Coyle-Cassidy HS) and Tara Dooley (Lee/Lee HS). Bentley was the only institution with more than two athletes recognized.
All three will advance to the national ballot for the selection of the 2012-13 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America team. Last year, Varsell was voted to the Academic All-America first team.
Varsell and Fahey both graduated from Bentley two weeks ago with Bachelor of Science degrees in corporate finance and accounting while Dooley, an accountancy major, recently completed her sophomore year. Varsell, who'll return next year for her final year of eligibility, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.84 GPA, and Fahey (3.64) earned Magna Cum Laude honors. Dooley's GPA of 3.85 was the third highest on the All-District team.
Varsell is a week removed from earning her fifth career All-America award, with a seventh-place finish in the 1500 meters during the NCAA Division II Championships out in Pueblo, Colo. She owns four individual school records, was the 2011-12 Division II East Region Indoor and Outdoor Women's Athletes of the Year and is a two-time recipient of Northeast-10 Sport Excellence awards (2012 indoors, 2012 outdoors). She missed both the 2012 cross country and 2012-13 indoor seasons due to injury.
Fahey enjoyed an outstanding senior year, one that included trips to the NCAA Championships both indoors and outdoors as well as winning three Northeast-10 championships (1000 indoors and both the 800 and 1500 outdoors). The three-time Academic All-Northeast-10 selection finished fourth in the mile at the indoor New Englands, and set school records in both the indoor mile (4:49.36) and the outdoor 1500 (4:29.43).
Dooley has been Bentley's number one runner in ten of ten career cross country races, and was second in both the Northeast-10 Championships and the NCAA Division II East Regional in both 2011 and 2012. She also has a pair of top 60 finishes in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships to her credit. Dooley ran only one track race this year, posting a fifth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the outdoor NE-10 Championships, with her time of 39:37.82 fourth best in program history.
District 1 includes athletes competing in the Northeast-10 Conference, the East Coast Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2012-13 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All-America ® Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.