June 28, 2004
Laura Gerraughty, a junior at the University of North Carolina, and the 2004 NCAA indoor and outdoor shot put champion, was named to the 2003-04 Academic All-America® Women's Track Team, which was announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Gerraughty is one of five national champions to be named to the first team.
Tar Heel senior Alice Schmidt, a two-time national champion in the 800 meters, was named a second-team All-America.
Gerraughty, a native of Nashua, N.H., is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Carolina history. She won two NCAA individual championships and one United States Track and Field championship this academic year and is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the shot put heading into the Olympic Trials.
Gerraughty set the alltime collegiate record in the indoor shot put. She also won four individual ACC titles in leading the Tar Heels to indoor and outdoor team titles. She won the ACC indoor shot and hammer and ACC outdoor shot and discus.
Gerraughty was named the Southeastern Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year. She won outdoor titles at the Penn Relays (third consecutive year in the championship division) and NCAA East Regional. Her season-best outdoor shot out of 60-10 is the best in the U.S. this year.
Schmidt, from Omaha, Neb., won the 2002 and 2003 NCAA outdoor 800 meters and was third in that event in 2004. She also was a member of UNC's NCAA champion distance medley relay in 2002. Schmidt earned Dean's List honors in each of her eight semesters at Carolina.
The Academic All-America Teams are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution.
