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July 14, 2006

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University women's track and field program claimed NCAA Division I Women's All-Academic Team status, and the senior duo of Jelena Jurlina and Helmi Leppanen earned individual honors, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Friday.

The Green Wave team compiled a semester grade point average of 3.046 in spring 2006, and was one of 75 programs to claim USTFFCCCA Women's All-Academic Team recognition with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Jurlina claimed the distinction after posting a 3.418 cumulative GPA as a graduate student working on her master's degree in management from Tulane's prestigious A.B. Freeman School of Business. Leppanen, meanwhile, sports a 3.85 GPA as graduate student in finance, and completed her bachelor's degree in financial marketing in spring 2005 with a 3.826 cumulative GPA.

"This is a tremendous honor for this program," Tulane head track and field coach Heather Van Norman said. "With everything the team, the athletic department and the entire University have been through over the last 10 months, I could not be prouder of the job these student-athletes have done on the track, but more importantly, in the classroom.

"Despite the ordeal of the fall relocation and the return to campus in January, these student-athletes never lost site of the No. 1 reason for being here, and that is to get a quality education and a degree that will help them immensely in the future. This is a well-deserved honor for everyone involved and shows the dedication this team has shown in practice, in competition and in the academic arena."

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field team, an athlete must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher and must have met the NCAA Division I regional or national qualifying standard in her event.

Jurlina, who earned her bachelor's degree in marketing and management last year, placed sixth in the javelin at the 2006 NCAA Mideast Regional with a throw of 158-04 on May 26 at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

Her throw of 48.26 meters was her third-best effort of the eason. Jurlina also placed 11th in the discus with a toss of 153-10 (46.90 meters). She holds the Tulane career mark in the discus and ranks in the top three in shot put and the javelin.

Jurlina qualified for the NCAA Championship field via an "at-large" bid after throw of 158-09 at the Conference USA Championship on May 13 in El Paso, Texas.

Leppanen, a 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI honoree, completed her Green Wave career as the program's record-holder in the shot put and javelin, and like Jurlina, represented Tulane at the 2006 NCAA Mideast Regional Championship.

She scored 10 points for the team at the 2006 C-USA Track & Field Championship, taking second place in the shot put with the second-longest throw in school history at 49-03 ½ and was seventh in the javelin. An 11-time All C-USA selection, Leppanen earned an at-large spot for the NCAA Championship in the shot put, but narrowly missed making the field.

Tulane was one of four C-USA programs to claim USTFCCCA Women's All-Academic Team honors, joining Rice, Tulsa, UCF and UTEP. Jurlina and Leppanen, meanwhile, are two of 12 C-USA student-athletes to earn individual honors, joining Rice quintet Marissa Daniels, Florence, Rachel Greff Nwagwu, Desarie Walwyn and Sarah Yoder, UTEP quartet Desiree Crichlow, Jakie Ike, Olatunde Okusanya and Nina Schvedoff, and UCF's Katie Fowke.