Complete release: Team | Women | Men

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco men's and women's track and field teams were honored for their excellence in the classroom, recently announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
 
The women tied for the fifth-highest team grade-point average in the nation, maintaining a cumulative mark of 3.61. USF joins Lipscomb (3.74), Chattanooga (3.73), Indiana (3.67), Portland (3.62) and Bradley (3.61) at the top of the ranks.
 
"I am extremely proud of our team as year in and year out we are able to achieve at the highest level both on the track and in the classroom," noted head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "Balancing intense training and competition year-round along with a rigorous course load is a difficult task, and year after year our women are extremely successful in both areas. 
 
"Our program focus is always to compete at the highest level, represent USF at the NCAA Championships, excel in the classroom and be a top-ranked team academically."
 
Three women also earned distinction as All-Academic individual performers from the USTFCCCA. To qualify for honors, student-athletes must have compiled a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 and have participated in the NCAA Division I Championships.
 
Elena Burkard, Kate Jamboretz and Jana Soethout were each tapped for honors based on their athletic and academic success in 2015.
 
Burkard, a junior from Baiersbronn, Germany, maintains a 3.47 gpa in her chemistry studies, and Jamboretz, also pursuing a degree in the sciences, keeps a 3.6 gpa in biology. Jamboretz, a native of Boise, Idaho, doubled up to compete in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships.
 
Completing her final semester as a master's student at USF, Soethout graduated with a degree in sports management, holding a 3.77 gpa. Soethout, a 2014 All-American performer at the 10,000 meters, raced in her third-straight NCAA semifinals in her final collegiate season.
 
The men held down a team GPA of 3.24 to also earn All-Academic Team honors. USF is one of a strong contingent of West Coast Conference institutions to earn academic distinction. USF, Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Portland, and Saint Mary's finished the season with both their men and women earning All-Academic Team awards.
 
The Dons begin the cross country season on Sept. 5, as USF hosts its annual San Francisco Invitational at Golden Gate Park to open the year.