BATON ROUGE – While the LSU women’s track and field team prepares itself for another national championship run next week at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Lady Tigers were recognized on Thursday for their effort in the classroom with four selections to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Team as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Sophomore Rachel Laurent (first team), senior Katelyn Rodrigue (second team), junior Melissa Ogbourne (second team) and sophomore Jenna Henssler (second team) have been honored this season by CoSIDA.
Laurent is not only an All-American pole vaulter for the Lady Tigers, but she also has the opportunity for an All-America selection in the classroom as a member of this year’s ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI First-Team with a 3.76 cumulative grade-point average in economics.
Student-athletes earning first-team academic all-district honors in the eight districts across the country are also under consideration for Academic All-America accolades from CoSIDA.
A native of Houma, La., Laurent is set to compete in the pole vault at the 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., next week after earning her second career NCAA Indoor All-America selection earlier this season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She also became an all-conference performer for the third time in her career with a runner-up finish at the SEC Indoor Championships back in March.
An outstanding pole vaulter in her own right, Rodrigue headlines the Lady Tiger trio earning second-team academic all-district honors on the strength of her 3.75 cumulative GPA in four years as a communication disorders major. She is also a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
A native of New Orleans, Rodrigue wraps up her athletic career at LSU as an All-SEC pole vaulter and an impressive three-time NCAA Championships qualifier from 2007-09.
Ogbourne, who will join Laurent at the NCAA Championships next week, has been honored as a member of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Second-Team while maintaining a 3.60 GPA in studying human resource education. Ogbourne is also a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Ogbourne, who hails from St. Catherine, Jamaica, has established herself as one of the nation’s elite triple jumpers as she is set to compete in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second time in her collegiate career. She enters the meet as an All-America contender after finishing ninth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this season. Ogbourne was also the top point scorer for the Lady Tigers at this year’s SEC Indoor meet with a combined 14 points in the long jump and triple jump.
A distance runner from Slidell, La., Henssler has certainly been a leader in the classroom for the women’s team as she boasts a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA in animal, dairy and poultry sciences. Henssler became a letterwinner for the first time in her career during the indoor season.
Both Laurent and Ogbourne will represent the Lady Tiger program at the 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships being held from June 9-12 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.