Rachael Shine earns Academic Honor from CoSIDA

2017 Jun 21

Recent graduate Rachael Shine of Clifton Park has earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 First Team honors in Track & Field/Cross Country for a second straight year. District 3 is made up of all the colleges in the state of New York and the honor allowed Shine to be included on the national ballot.

This spring Shine completed one of the most decorated careers in the history of the cross country and track & field programs both as a runner and in the classroom. Last fall, she earned All-American honors in cross country leading the women to a seventh place finish at the national championships.

Shine finished her athletic career as a four-time All-American, nine-time SUNYAC champion, seven-time All-SUNYAC honoree, seven-time NCAA qualifier and seven-time All-Region performer. She also holds the conference records in the indoor and outdoor 800 meters and outdoor 1500 meters.

Shine majored in Psychology and has a long list of academic accolades that is just as impressive as her athletic accomplishments. She is a five-time USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete and was the SUNYAC Scholar Athlete of the Year in cross country last fall. Her most impressive honor was receiving the SUNY Chancellor Award for Student Excellence, which encompasses academics, athletics and service. It is the highest award a SUNY student can receive.

In addition, Shine was the recipient this spring of the SUNY Chancellor's Scholar Athletic Award in the sport of cross country.

About the Academic All-America Program

To be eligible for nomination at the district level, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

A student athlete is eligible for the national ballot only if he/she is named to the first team in one of the eight CoSIDA districts. Only members of the Academic All-America Committee, the CoSIDA Board of Directors and past presidents are eligible to vote on the national ballot, which amounts to just over 100 voters.

The Division III Academic All-America program is supported financially by the NCAA Division III national governance structure. The funding assists CoSIDA with the handling of the awards fulfillment aspects for all the DIII Academic All-America team programs.

This is the fifth year of the expanded Academic All-America program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.