Gritter Named GTE Academic All-American

April 20th, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Jeff Febus


GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Calvin College senior Sarah Gritter has been named a first team GTE Academic All-American in the fall/winter college at-large division. The college division of the GTE Academic All-America program includes NCAA II, NCAA III and NAIA schools. The GTE Academic All-District and All-America teams are selected by the College Sports information Director's Association of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible for nomination, a player must be a starter or a key reserve with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20.

A member of the two-time national champion Calvin women's cross country team, Gritter is receiving GTE Academic All-America citations for the second time in her collegiate career as she was named a second team GTE Academic All-American last spring in track and field.

Gritter hails from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where she attended Racine Lutheran High School. A three-year member of the Calvin women's cross country team, Gritter has been a key component of Calvin's back-to-back national championship teams. Gritter overcame an illness problem early in the season to finish eighth at the MIAA Championships; 14th at the Great Lakes Regional and 49th at the NCAA III Championships as Calvin captured its 12th consecutive MIAA and Great Lakes Regional title and its second consecutive national championship. In finishing 14th at the Great Lakes Regional, Gritter earned a spot on the Great Lakes All-Region team for the second straight year.

Gritter carries a 3.97 grade point average and is a mathematics major with a minor in computer science. She is a seven-time member of the Calvin Dean's List and a three-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll. She also serves as a student computer programmer in the Calvin Information Technology Department.

A two-time All-American in track and field last spring, Gritter is off to another standout track and field campaign as she has already posted NCAA III provisional qualifying times in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters and an NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 9:54.00 in the 3,000 meters.

Gritter is the third athlete from Calvin this year to receive GTE Academic All-America recognition, joining Aaron Winkle who was named a second team GTE Academic All-American this winter in men's basketball and Joel Klooster who was named a third team GTE Academic All-American in men's cross country. Gritter is one of two athletes from the MIAA to have earned GTE Academic All-America honors in the women's fall-winter college at-large division as Hope senior Betsy VandenBerg was named to the first team in swimming.

Calvin has now had its athletes recognized as GTE Academic All-Americans 36 times including ten times in the last two years.

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