Katie Theisen voted Academic All-American

June 25, 2008

St. Thomas junior All-American distance runner Katie Theisen was voted second-team Academic All-America for College Division track and field and cross country. She was among 45 student-athletes honored on the elite team, which was announced today and is sponsored by ESPN the Magazine and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

In a rare and possibly unprecedented feat, siblings Katie and P.J. Theisen received the prestigious Academic All-America honor in the same season. P.J. was a first-team honoree on the men's team announced on Monday. On his career P.J. received four AAA honors, and on Wednesday he was announced as an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient.

P.J. Theisen was honored in both football and track and field. Softball's Maria Bye and Katie Theisen were UST's female honorees. St. Thomas has received this coveted Academic All-American honor 58 times, including 40 honorees from 12 different sports in the last 10 years.

Katie Theisen and Bethel's Nicole Umhoefer were the lone MIAC women honored, both on second team. It was Theisen's first career Academic All-America honor and the fourth for the Tommies in 2007-08.

Katie Theisen was one of five MIAC students to be honored with a coveted Goldwater Scholarship for 2008-2009.

Theisen, who has a 4.00 grade-point average in Biology, is among an elite group of 321 students nationally honored from a pool of more than 1,000 nominated by faculty members. Theisen is doing research on ecological effects on reproduction under the direction of Dr. Adam Kay and Dr. Maurine Neiman of the Biology Department in St. Thomas' College of Arts and Sciences. She plans to attend medical school and possibly teach some day. She said she hopes she can apply "evolutionary principles to basic science questions of medical relevance."

Theisen earned All-American honors last fall in cross country with a 20th-place national finish. Last March in indoor track and field, she anchored the Tommie distance-medley relay to second in the Division III championships. In April, she anchored the same relay team to second place at the Drake Relays in Des Moines.She qualified for nationals in the 800 meters and also was a provisional qualifier in the steeplechase, 400 hurdles and 4x400 relay.

On her MIAC career in six indoor and outdoor meets thus far, Theisen has 24 top-five placings including six relay victories and three individual titles. She's helped the Tommies win eight of a possible nine MIAC team titles thus far in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

She's also been a three-time cross country All-MIAC honoree as she's taken 13th, third and second at the conference meet.