BEREA, OHIO -- Four Baldwin-Wallace College track and field performers, seniors Alex Johnson (Berea/ Olmsted Falls High School), Jen Southall (Willoughby South H.S.) and Abby Comminsky (Fremont Ross H.S.) and junior Jon Shoffstall (Lakeview/ Indian Lake H.S.), have been named to the 2004 Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference teams.
Johnson, the 2004 Ohio Athletic Conference champion in the shot put both indoors and outdoors, carries a 3.414 grade point average in mathematics. It marks the third straight year that Johnson has been tabbed to the honor squad. He was a first-team choice last year and a second-team pick in 2002. The Dean's List student is also a member of the Alpha Lambda and Kappa Mu Epsilon honor societies. A year ago, Johnson was a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District IV performer and is currently a candidate again along with Southall and Shoffstall.
Athletically, Johnson is currently qualified for this week's NCAA Division III National Track & Field Championship Meet in the shot put and discus. Johnson was 10th at this year's NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship Meet in the shot put and has a career-best of 52-feet and 11 and three-quarters inches which he set this spring at the All-Ohio Track & Field Championship Meet on April 16. Johnson was also 14th at last year’s NCAA Div. III Outdoor National Championship Meet in the discus and has a 2004 best of 158' 2" which he set three weeks ago in a meet at Westminster (Pa.) College. His career-best throw in the discus is 164'10".
Southall, who placed sixth at last year’s NCAA Division III National Championship Meet in the 3000 meter steeplechase, carries a 3.59 grade point average in biology and business administration and is a Dean's List student. It is her first time being named to the Academic All-OAC the honor squad. Currently, Southall is qualified for the Div. III national meet in the steeple with a best of 10:54.78 which she achieved at the B-W Twilight Meet last Friday, May 21 in Berea. Southall's career-best in the steeplechase is 10:49.76 at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championship Meet.
Shoffstall, who carries a 3.81 grade average in health and physical education, is a first-year Academic All-OAC honoree. In addition, the Dean's List student was also named as the Paul "Sparky" Adams Memorial Track Scholarship Award winner at Honor's Day. The STARR Student-Athlete for the Month was nationally qualified in the discus at 156’7" and in the hammer at 177’5" but his distances did not meet the final meet qualifying standards. His top hammer throw came at last weekend’s B-W Twilight Invitational Meet in Berea.
Comminsky, who carries a 3.54 grade average in mathematics, competed in the 400 meter hurdles and 3000 meter steeplechase this spring. She is both a Dean's List student and a member of the Alpha Lambda Academic and Laurel's honor societies. She is also a part of the B-W Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact B-W SID Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, FAX him at 440-826-2329 or e-mail him at kruple@bw.edu.
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