FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – For the first time since the 2016 season, the Nova Southeastern track and field program has registered a key postseason academic honor, as women’s distance runner Michelle Bauer has been named a member of the CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country First Team, officially announced on Friday.
The teams, divided geographically, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-America program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
Coming off her final seasons and an early graduation, Bauer (senior, St. Marys, Pa.) has earned her degree in Finance with a perfect 4.0, even while working through minors in Spanish, International Business, Honors Transdisciplinary Studies and Experiential Leadership.
A standout leader for the Sharks on the cross country course, Bauer paced all Sharks runners in each of the seven meets of the 2019 season – a feat she also achieved in 2017 as a rookie. In her career as a Shark, Bauer has topped the NSU scoring pack in 15-of-20 races. In 2019, Bauer produced three top-10 finishes, highlighted by a sixth-place crossing at the Florida Tech Invitational on Sept. 7. She leaves NSU with a top 5k time of 19:20.14, top 6k at 23:46.50 and three appearances at the NCAA South Regional Championships. On the track, Bauer twice finished fourth at the Peach Belt Championships in the 10,000m and twice was sixth at PBC in the 3000m steeplechase.
Bauer was named the 2020 NSU Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the annual Sharky’s Awards and received the Peach Belt’s Elite 15 Award. She is actively involved in the Razor’s Edge Leadership Program and is a six-time Dean’s List and Director’s List honoree, as well as being named three times to the Peach Belt Academic team and thrice to the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Bauer will now advance to the CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot. Academic All-America honorees will be announced from June 22-25.
A complete list of the CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country Teams can be viewed here (PDF).
For more information about CoSIDA’s Google Cloud Academic All-District and Academic All-America Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com on CoSIDA.com.
