CEDARVILLE — Three Cedarville University Yellow Jacket student athletes were named to their respective CoSIDA Academic All-American teams, recently, as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Olivia Esbenshade and Carsyn Koch were both named to the 2016-17 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division II Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country first team, while senior Wyatt Hartman earned a spot on the 2016-17 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division II Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country second team.
Esbenshade and Koch are the first-ever Lady Jackets to earn first team honors as well as CU’s first since joining NCAA D-II competition.
Samantha Maat Modderman (2006-07) and Lydia Wong (2009-10) were NAIA Second Team selections.
Esbenshade, a product of Marietta, Pa., carried a 3.82 GPA in nursing as a Dean’s Honor List student prior to graduation in May.
She was the 2016 G-MAC Cross Country Runner of the Year and the 2017 G-MAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
Esbenshade achieved NCAA Division II All-America honors on the track with her third-place finish in the outdoor 1,500 meters and as part of the indoor distance medley relay squad that placed third.
Koch, who is from Washburn, Maine, maintains a 3.54 GPA as a Dean’s List student in nursing.
In cross country, she helped the Lady Jackets to their fifth straight G-MAC crown, a runner-up showing in the Midwest Region, and their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championship where they placed 11th.
Hartman, a senior from Cortland, was a Dean’s Honor List student as a mechanical engineering major prior to graduating with a 3.89 grade-point average.
He guided Cedarville to its fifth straight Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) cross country title by placing fifth individually for all-conference first team recognition.
Hartman repeated as a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) All-American with a sixth-place showing for the runner-up Yellow Jackets.
On the track, Hartman picked up NCAA Division II Indoor All-America honors as a member of the distance medley relay squad that placed eighth. He was an All-G-MAC performer both indoors and outdoors.
Hartman is the sixth CoSIDA Academic All-American® in CU men’s track & field history and the third honoree in cross country.