W&J Senior Track & Field Duo Captures Capital One Academic All-District Awards
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson College seniors Michelle Wuenstel (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) and Katelynd McElhany (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) were selected to the Capital One Track & Field/Cross Country Women’s Academic All-District II Team on Thursday, June 2 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Both student-athletes were chosen to the second team.
Wuenstel (3.68 GPA, Environmental Studies) and McElhany (3.51, International Business) played large roles in helping the Presidents claim the school’s third Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Track & Field Championship in late April. McElhany won three individual events and joined Wuenstel on a pair of relays to earn the conference’s High Point/MVP award. Wuenstel claimed PAC individual titles in the 200 and 400 meters.
Wuenstel went on to earn a spot in the 400-meter field at the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships. She qualified for the finals on May 27 in Ohio by posting the third-fastest time (55.59 seconds, college-best mark) during the preliminaries. She placed sixth in the finals (56.67 seconds) and became the first W&J athlete in a track event to earn NCAA All-America laurels.
A six-time Presidents’ Athletic Conference individual champion, Wuenstel claimed back-to-back 200- and 400-meter outdoor conference titles to close her career. She owns the outdoor school record in the 100- (12.58), 200- (25.50), 400- (55.59) meter events, while also boasting the school indoor record of 26.15 seconds in the 200 meters. Throughout her indoor career, Wuenstel was a part of four school-record relays.
Wuenstel, the fourth-place finisher in the 200 meters at the 2011 ECAC Division III Outdoor Championships, was selected as the PAC Track Athlete of the Week four times in her career. She is also a two-time PAC Spring Academic Honor Roll recipient.
Wuenstel and McElhany teamed up this spring to set a pair of school-record outdoor relays. The duo helped the 4x100 relay post a time of 48.68 seconds at Allegheny (5/13), while the 4x400 relay ran a time of 3:58.04 at the Lynchburg (Va.) Invitational (3/19).
McElhany transferred to W&J from Division II Seton Hill prior to her sophomore year. She collected 35 team points for the Presidents at this year’s PAC Championships after claiming individual titles in the 100 meters (12.88), 100-meter hurdles (15.09) and 400-meter hurdles (1:04.27). She also claimed the 2009 PAC long jump championship.
At the 2011 ECAC Outdoor Championships, McElhany placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 8.60 seconds. She is the school-record holder in the 100-meter (14.81) and 400-meter (1:04.27) hurdle events.
CoSIDA’s District II includes all non-NCAA Division I colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. To be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.30 or higher cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or significant reserve.
Washington & Jefferson College has produced 26 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District selections during the past two seasons, including 14 this academic year.
