MARSHALL, Minn. – Five members of the Southwest Minnesota State University women's track & field team earned spots on the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team announced on Tuesday.
 
Named to the All-District team include junior Sierra Clifford, senior Hannah Koepfinger, senior Nadia Sanford, junior Kaaryna Smidel, and junior Shealyn Tom.
 
The 2024 Academic All-District® women's track & field/cross country teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student- athletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom. A total of five student-athletes per school can be selected to the team provided they reach specific academic and athletic guidelines.
 
The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
 
Clifford, a native of Hayward, Wis., earns CSC Academic All-District accolades for the second straight year and is a four-time Academic All-NSIC honoree. A biology major, she earned All-NSIC honors placing third in the 600 meters at the NSIC Indoor Championships with a time of 1:37.23. She placed seventh in the 400 meters at the NSIC Outdoor Championships in May.
 
Koepfinger, from King George, Va., was twice named Academic All-NSIC this season and is pursuing her master's degree at SMSU. This spring, she placed 12^th in the heptathlon at the NSIC Outdoor Championships with a school record 4,249 points and was 16^th in the javelin at 31.20m.
 
Sanford, a physical education / health teaching major from Oak Grove, Minn., earns CSC Academic All-District honors for the second straight year. A four-year member the track & field team and six-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, Sanford earned All-NSIC honors in the shot put at the NSIC Indoor Championships with a second-place toss of 14.0m.
 
Smidel, a biology major from Kewaunee, Wis., is a three-year member of the track & field team and is a four-time Academic All-NSIC honoree. She ran a personal best 1:07.59 in the 400-meter hurdles to finish second at the Luther Invite in April, which also ranked 44^th in the NCAA Central Region.
 
Tom, has been a three-year member of the track & field team and earns CSC Academic All-District accolades for the second straight season. An art major from Brea, Calif., Tom is a four-time Academic All-NSIC honoree. She placed ninth in the pole vault at the 2024 NSIC Outdoor Championships and finished 11th at the 2024 NSIC Indoor Championships.
 
The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2023-24 Divisions II and III Academic All-America®
programs.
 
For more information about CSC Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com.