Four Pioneers Named to the 2012 USTFCCCA Women's Division III All-Academic Track & Field team

Four members of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's track and field team - Jackie Cahill, Deidre Dillman, Danielle Kunkel and Ann Tank - were named to the 2012 United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association Women's Division III All-Academic Track & Field team on Wednesday.  

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met either of the following athletic standards: a student-athlete must have competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship or finished the regular season ranked in the national top 35 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 25 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.

All four were members of the Gabe Miller Academic Honor Roll at UW-Platteville and make up a list of the 48 that were honored from the WIAC, which had the most honorees of any other NCAA Division III Conference.

Cahill, a freshman from Stockton, Illinois, along with Tank and Dillman each ran a leg on the Pioneers' women's 4x400-meter relay that finished ninth at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Cahill, who participated in just the long and triple jump on the indoor circuit, emerged on the outdoor circuit and was a valuable contributor in both the jumps as well as in the 200-meter and 400-meter dash on the outdoor circuit. She posted season-best performances of 27.42 in the 200-meter dash at the UW-Platteville Invitational and a time of 59.94 in the 400-meter dash at the UW-La Crosse National Qualifier.

Dillman, a junior from Prairie du Chien, ran the anchor leg on the Pioneers' 4x400-meter relay and set a new school record en route to her first individual All-American honors at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She posted a time of 2:08.07 at the championships to break Marcia Taddy's school record of 2:08.23.

Kunkel, a sophomore from Hazel Green, qualified for both the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 2012 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. She was the top distance runner for the Pioneer women with team-best performances in the 1,500-meter run (4:47.46), 5,000-meter run (17:24) and 10,000-meter run (36:10.31).

Tank, a senior from Dodgeville, finished her UW-Platteville career as a member of the Pioneers' 4x400-meter relay at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She also ran on the relay on the indoor circuit as well as an individual in the 800-meter run. Tank was recently selected as the WIAC nominee for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award.