Two Falcons honored by ESPN

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UW-River Falls track and field athletes Krista Hasselquist and Becca Jordahl have been named to ESPN The Magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) All-District Five Academic track and field/cross country teams.

Hasselquist was named to the first team and Jordahl to the second.

Hasselquist, one of 10 student-athletes named to the first team, helped lead the Falcons to the NCAA outdoor National Championship in May. She earned NCAA All-America honors in the shot put with a fifth place finish with a throw of 45 feet, 7 1/4 inches. She also earned All-America honors with a sixth place finish at the NCAA indoor championships in March with a throw of 44-6 3/4.

Hasselquist is a four-time NCAA All-American earning the honor at the 2007 outdoor and 2006 indoor championships. She was named the WIAC’s indoor track and field Scholar-Athlete in 2008 and is UW-RF’s nominee to the conference for the NCAA Women of the Year award. She holds the school record in the indoor weight throw (53-9 1/4) set in 2007 and outdoor discus (154-6) set in 2008. She has won two WIAC individual titles: The 2007 outdoor shot put, with a throw of 43-9 1/2, and the 2008 outdoor discus, with a throw of 154-6.

Hasselquist is a six-time indoor and six-time outdoor national meet qualifier and has been the team’s captain the past two seasons. She was named the team’s MVP in 2006 and the Hardcore Award winner in 2007.

Hasselquist has been named to UW-RF Dean’s List seven times and to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll in 2005, 2006 and 2007. She was also a Chancellor’s Award nominee in 2008. She has been the team’s representative to the UW-RF Student Athlete Advisory Committee, a UW-RF Student Senate student-athlete representative, the head student football equipment manager for football, and a member of the UW-RF Facilities and Fees and Budget and Recreation committees. She served as the chair of the Facilities and Fees committee.

Hasselquist has been a student representative on the assistant director of Hunt/Knowles and assistant football coach/lecturer Search and Screen committees. In 2008 she was a member of the UW-RF Leadership Development and Service committee.

She has compiled a 3.71 cumulative grade point average and is majoring in health and human performance with minors in business administration and coaching.

Hasselquist is now eligible for the CoSIDA national All-America team.

Jordahl also played a key role in helping the Falcons to the NCAA outdoor National Championship. She won the 5,000-meter run and placed third in the 10,000-meter run to earn 16 team points. She became just the third Falcon to become a NCAA individual track and field champion, winning the 5,000 meter run in a school record time of 16 minutes, 52.49 second. She finished the 10,000 in 35:48.01, just three seconds out of first place.

Jordahl is a three-time NCAA All-American, also earning the honor with a second place finish in the 5,000-meter race at the NCAA indoor National Meet with a time of 17:02.71. She was named the team’s track Most Valuable Performer after the 2008 season.

Last fall Jordahl earned NCAA cross country All-American honors with a fourth place finish in the National Meet, completing the 6,000-meter course in 21:27. In 2007 she earned All-American honors with a 19th place finish at the National Meet.

Jordahl holds the school cross country record of 21:05.27 set last fall. She also holds six track and field records: The indoor mile (5:05.24), the indoor 3,000 (9:56.46), the indoor 5,000 (16:49.27), the outdoor 3,000 (10:00.18), the outdoor 5,000 (16:552.49) and the outdoor 10,000 (35:43.63). She set all the records this season.

Jordahl ran cross country and track for the first time in her career this season. After the cross country season she was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Region Athlete of the Year. She ran six cross country races last year finishing first in four, second in one and fourth in the other. She won the NCAA Midwest Region title in 21:05.21.

At this year’s WIAC indoor Championships, Jordahl won the 5,000 (17:12.88) and the 3,000 (9:56.46). At the WIAC outdoor Championships she won the 10,000 (36.43.43) and the 5,000 (17.01.58). She was named the conference’s Track Athlete of the Meet.

Jordahl has a 3.49 cumulative grade point average and is majoring in exercise science with a minor in health education.

The District Five team is comprised of all NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA student-athletes from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota and is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

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