Cazzola, Strupp Repeat As CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

UW-Oshkosh's Christy Cazzola headlines the 2013-14 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Cazzola, an Academic All-American for the third time, was also named the Academic All-America of the Year for Division III women's track & field/cross country. She is UW-Oshkosh's first Academic All-America of the Year honoree and the seventh from the WIAC.

Joining Cazzola on the 15-member first team was Breanna Strupp, a second-team selection a year ago. UW-Whitewater's Shelby Mahr was voted to the third team.

Cazzola, a graduate student from Kaukauna, finished her collegiate career with 17 NCAA Division III titles, including six this year. She won eight indoor track & field titles, eight outdoor track & field titles and the 2012 cross country championship.

Cazzola capped her record-breaking career with three titles at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship held May 22-24 in Delaware, Ohio. She won races at 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters while leading UW-Oshkosh to a second-place finish.

Cazzola was named National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. She also repeated as the Outstanding Track Performer at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship.

Cazzola contributed to three event titles at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship held March 14-15 in Lincoln, Neb. She was named the meet's Outstanding Track Performer after winning the mile and 3,000-meter runs and anchoring the Titans' victorious distance medley relay. Cazzola's efforts helped UW-Oshkosh repeat as team champion.

In the past month, Cazzola broke NCAA Division III records with times of 2:03.45 in the 800-meter run and 4:14.20 in the 1,500-meter run. She is currently competing at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

Cazzola, who was named the 2014 Honda Division III Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards, graduated in January with a 3.40 grade-point average as a secondary education major. The 29-year-old mother of two is currently pursuing a master's degree at UW-Oshkosh.

Strupp was a competitor for UW-Oshkosh during the outdoor season only. She finished third in the discus and 19th in the shot put at the NCAA Division III Championship.

Strupp, a senior from Slinger, concluded her collegiate career with eight All-America awards. She won outdoor titles in the discus in 2011 and the shot put in 2012. Strupp captured the indoor shot put title in 2013.

Strupp owns a 3.72 GPA as an education major. Last month, she was named the female winner of the UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Scholar-Athlete Award.

Since the inception of the CoSIDA Academic All-America Program in 1952, 49 UW-Oshkosh student-athletes have combined to total a WIAC-leading 70 Academic All-America awards.

To be eligible for Academic All-America selection, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director.

The Academic All-America team is selected after All-District teams are picked from eight geographic regions nationally. All first-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Academic All-America ballot.