Five Sun Devils earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced its annual ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors for track and field Thursday with five members of the Arizona State University program earning placement on the teams. Three Sun Devils were selected to the first team, including Sarah Stevens, Jason Lewis and Ryan Whiting, while two others, Ali Kielty and Ben Engelhardt, both were selected to the second team in District VIII. With their selections to the first team in the district, Stevens, Lewis and Whiting are all eligible for Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA.

Stevens, who garnered her third-consecutive honor from CoSIDA and her second in a row as a member of the district’s first team, was recently named the 2009 Pac-10 Women’s Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year presented by Toyo Tires. An automatic qualifier in three events for the upcoming NCAA Championships, Stevens was a first team district selection last year before earning her first Academic All-America honor.

Whiting and Lewis are both repeat honorees from 2008 as Whiting was a first team selection last year and Lewis was a second-team honoree. Whiting, the national leader in the shot put and two-time defending indoor champion, later went on to earn second team Academic All-America honors last year. Lewis, who has qualified for the shot put, hammer and discus at the NCAA meet, will look to build upon a stellar indoor meet in which he won the national title in the weight throw and was fourth in the shot put.

Kielty earned a place on the second team for the second year in a row while Engelhardt garnered his first honor from CoSIDA. The three selections for the men equals a program-high from last year while the two selections for the women give the program at least two honorees in each of the last four seasons.

The Sun Devils will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., next week to compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships that will be hosted by Arkansas on June 10-13.

2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII
First Team
Women: Sarah Stevens
Men: Jason Lewis, Ryan Whiting

Second Team
Women: Ali Kielty
Men: Ben Engelhardt