Eight UOlivet track and field student-athletes land on CSC Academic All-District® team

OLIVET, Mich. – Eight student-athletes from The University of Olivet have been selected to the 2024-25 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field/Cross Country teams. The honorees are Lily Connelly, London Eldridge, Morgan Jeffries and Emily Norkowski from the women's team, and Austin Cole, Luke Leighton, Peter Moore and Kyle Redd from the men's team.

To be eligible for this honor, the student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have a 3.50 or higher cumulative and must have a top 50 regional ranking in a single event (indoor or outdoor).

Connelly, a recent graduate with a degree in criminal justice with law enforcement and corrections concentrations, ran the region's 17th-fastest time in the 400-meter dash at 57.92 seconds. The mark was posted at the 2025 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Field Day when she placed third in the event.

Eldridge, a recent graduate with a degree in biology and pre-medicine concentration, recorded five Top-50 regionally-ranked times. Outdoors, she was eighth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:03.79), 24th in the 100-meter dash (15.60) and 36th in the 400-meter dash (59.78), and indoors, she was 17th in the 60-meter hurdles (9.36) and 31st in the 400-meter dash (1:01.31). Eldridge captured the MIAA title in the 400-meter hurdles and was second in the 60-meter hurdles to land a spot on the All-MIAA teams. The 400 hurdles time is an UOlivet record.

Jeffries, a recent graduate with a degree in psychology, ranked 34th in the outdoor 200-meter dash (25.84), 45th in the indoor 60-meter dash (8.14) and 46th in the outdoor 100-meter dash (12.68). The two outdoor times in the 100 and 200 are the second-fastest in UOlivet history, while the indoor time in the 60 is third-quickest.

Norkowski, a recent graduate with a degree in exercise science, had seven Top-50 regionally-ranked marks. The best is fourth when she scored 3,976 points to win the outdoor heptathlon at the inaugural MIAA Combined Events. The others are 16th in the indoor triple jump (34 feet and 8.50 inches), 17th in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles (15.30), 19th in the indoor 60-meter hurdles (9.37), 28th in the outdoor triple jump (34 feet and 5.75 inches), 31st in the outdoor high jump (4 feet and 11.50 inches) and 33rd in the indoor long jump (16 feet and 7.75 inches). Norkowski is the UOlivet record holder for both the indoor and outdoor triple jump. She ranks third all-time in the indoor 60-meter hurdles

Connelly, Eldridge, Jeffries and Norkowski broke the UOlivet record in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2025 MIAA Field Day, clocking-in at 49.66 seconds. Connelly, Eldridge and Jeffries helped cap the championships in the 4x400-meter relay which placed second and broke the school record at 4:02.03. At the 2025 MIAA Indoor Championships, Eldridge, Jeffries and Norkowski were part of the 4x400-meter relay with a UOlivet record time of 4:12.57.

Cole, a criminal justice major, ranked No. 36 regionally in the indoor shot put and No. 33 in the outdoor shot put and No. 49 in the discus. Indoors, the shot put mark of 45 feet and 7.25 inches was achieved March 1 when he placed fifth at the MIAA Indoor Championships. Outdoors, the shot put mark of 45 feet and 2.25 inches was April 4 at the College of Wooster (Ohio) Invitational and the discus mark of 134 feet and 10 inches was April 18 at the Otterbein (Ohio) Twilight Meet.

Leighton, an insurance & risk management major, ran the region's 31st-fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles, 56.77 seconds, on May 14 at the Augustana (Ill.) College Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier.

Moore, an insurance & risk management major, leaped his way to three Top-50 marks. Indoors, he was 41st in the long jump (21 feet and 4.75 inches) and 45th in the triple jump (41 feet and 5.75 inches), and outdoors, he was 50th in triple jump (40 feet and 9 inches). The indoor marks were at the Saginaw Valley Holiday Open for the long jump and Central Michigan Jack Skoog Open for the triple jump. The outdoor triple jump mark was at the MIAA Field Day.

Redd, a psychology major, recorded three top-50 regional marks during the outdoor season. He was 22nd in the 400-meter dash (49.88), 44th in the 100-meter dash (10.91) and 45th in the 200-meter dash (22.16). The 200 and 400 times were run at the MIAA Field Day, while the 100 time was at the Comet Invitational.

Following a vetting process, Norkowski advances to the Academic All-America® NCAA Division III Women's Track and Field/Cross Country ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced July 15, 2025.

The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men's and women's basketball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. The Division III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Division III Academic All-America® programs. For more information about CSC Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit www.academicallamerica.com.