USTFCCCA 2011 Division I Track & Field All-Academic Team

NEW ORLEANS - Senior Nikki Klier (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) and junior Nichole Manning (Kansas City, Mo./Winnetonka) were named to the Division I All-Academic Track & Field team as announced Thursday (Aug. 4) by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).  

Manning and Klier both demonstrated exemplary performance both in the classroom and on the track. To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25.  

A student-athlete also must have met strict athletic standards. For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 in a relay event on the official NCAA performance list. For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).   

Klier ranked 78th nationally in the indoor women's 400-meter dash (54.82 converted for track size) while Manning placed 72nd nationally in the outdoor women's pole vault (12' 11.75"). Both athletes qualified for and competed at the NCAA Track and Field West Preliminary Rounds in Eugene, Ore. in late May.

Klier earned outdoor all-league honors for the third time in her career and placed second in the 400-meter dash at the 2011 Summit League Outdoor Championships with a mark of 56.30. Back in February, Klier was the top seed of the women's 400-meter dash at the Summit League Indoor Championships and captured her first conference title with a program record time of 55.52. She was named to the 2011 Indoor All-Summit League squad, which was the third indoor all-league honor of her career.

Klier finished her career as a four-time Academic All-League selection and was named to the Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence three times. Klier graduated in May 2010 with a bachelor's degree in Communications and is currently enrolled in graduate school Communications classes at Western Illinois University. She boasts a 3.833 cumulative grade point average inside the classroom.

Manning broke her own pole vault school record during the outdoor season with a mark of 12' 11.75" and was named outdoor All-Summit League for the third time in her career. She was also named to the indoor All-Summit League team for the third time after a mark of 11' 11.75" at the Iowa Invitational.

Manning holds a 3.558 grade-point-average inside the classroom as a Medical Science major. Following the 2011 season, she was named to the Summit League's Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence and the Winter/Spring Academic All-League Team as a Distinguished Scholar. Overall, Manning has earned Academic All-League honors three times and Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence honors twice.