ELMHURST, Ill. – Five South Dakota State student-athletes indoor track and field athletes earned Summit League All-Academic team honors, the league office announced on Wednesday.
A total of 21 student-athletes, 10 men and 11 women, were named to the all-league teams, which were voted on by sports information directors and faculty athletics representatives.
The Jackrabbit men landed three student-athletes – Kyle Burdick, J.J. Hejna, and Joel Reichow – on the all-league team.
Kyle Burdick earns his first Summit League all-academic award. The sophomore from Rapid City, is majoring in natural resource law enforcement with a 3.66 grade-point average. Burdick won the 3,000-meter run (8:09.92), finished second in the mile (4:16.90) and third in the 5,000-meter run (14:45.76) at The Summit League Indoor Championships. Burdick also ran the Jackrabbits' fastest mile of the season (4:08.12).
Junior J.J. Hejna, a Yankton native, a mathematics major with a 3.78 GPA, earns his second consecutive indoor track and field all-academic team honors. Hejna finished third in the high jump after clearing a personal-best height of 6 feet, 9 inches to earn all-league honors at The Summit League Indoor Championships. Hejna also finished eighth in the long jump (21-11.75) and 10th in the triple jump (44-9.5) at the league championships.
Joel Reichow, a senior from White Bear Lake, Minn., earns his second indoor track and field Summit League All-Academic Team honor, and fifth overall. Reichow, who is majoring in Biology with a 3.75 GPA, earned the track MVP of the Championship after earning 25 points across three events at The Summit League Indoor Championships. Reichow won the mile run (4:16.63) and the 5,000-meter run (14:24.17), and finished third in the 3,000-meter run (8:24.75).
On the women's side, Savannah Dolezal and Rachel King each earned the honor for the first time.
Savannah Dolezal, a junior from Estelline, is majoring in nursing with a 3.69 GPA. Dolezal was a member of the school record-breaking 4x400 relay team (3:44.56) and also posted a personal-best 400-meter dash (56.25) at The Summit League Indoor Championships to earn third place. It is her first time being recognized on the indoor track and field all-academic team.
Rachel King earns her first Summit League Indoor Track and Field All-Academic Team award. King is majoring in health education with a cumulative GPA of 3.80. The sophomore from St. Michael, Minn., won the women's 5,000-meter run (16:54.68) and 3,000-meter run (9:34.21) at The Summit League Indoor Championships. King also set a school record in the 3,000-meter run finishing in 9:34.21.
To be eligible for The Summit League All-Academic Team a student-athlete must have a minimum cumulative GPA of at least a 3.30, have competed in 50 percent of their teams meets and competed for their current school for at least one academic year.
