Dec. 7, 2007

TEMPE, Ariz. - Twelve members of the Arizona State University cross country program were honored as Pac-10 All-Academic selections, the Conference announced Friday. The men and women each placed six of its student-athletes on the lists.

Ben Engelhardt led the way for the program as he was selected for first team honors, his first academic honor. Engelhardt is sixth Sun Devil male to be honored with a first-team selection in cross country (11th total first team honor for ASU's men) and continued a streak of five years in a row with at least one first team honor.

The women were led by a pair of runners from Torrace, Calif., as former high school teammates Ali Kielty and Angela Spadafino both secured placement on the women's second team. The honor is the first for Spadafino while Kielty garnered her second Pac-10 academic award after earning honorable mention in 2006.

The men placed five of its student-athletes on the honorable mention list, including three first-time selections in Collin Eckelman, Jeff Helmer and Garrett Kelly. Joey Heller (second team in 2006 and honorable mention in 2005) and David Mehlhorn (honorable mention in both 2005 and 2006) each earned their third cross country academic honor from the Pac-10.

On the women's honorable mention list, Whitney Blue and Chelsea Caloia both earned their first cross country academic honors from the conference. Jenna Kingma (second team in 2006 and honorable mention in 2005) joined Whitney Lemieux (honorable mention in 2005 and 2006) on the honorable mention list for their third career cross country academic honors.

Pac-10 All-Academic Selections for Arizona State
Men's First Team - Ben Engelhardt
Men's Honorable Mention - Collin Eckelman, Joey Heller, Jeff Helmer, Garrett Kelly, David Mehlhorn
Women's Second Team - Ali Kielty, Angela Spadafino
Women's Honorable Mention - Whitney Blue, Chelsea Caloia, Jenna Kingma, Whitney Lemieux