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A pair of national track and field titles, an All-America performance in cross country and outstanding success in the classroom helped UW Oshkosh’s Ayla Mitchell receive third-team status on the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women’s College Division Track and Field and Cross Country Team.

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selected 45 student athletes to its College Division squad, with 15 placed on each of the three teams. The College Division team features NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA student athletes.

This past season, Mitchell, of New Richmond, ran her way to NCAA Division III track and field titles in both the indoor one-mile run and the outdoor 5,000-meter run. She also placed second in the nation in the outdoor 1,500-meter run.

Mitchell picked up another All-America prize with her third-place NCAA Division III finish in cross country. The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named her the 2008 NCAA Division III Midwest Region Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

In WIAC competition, Mitchell captured four track and field titles while finishing second in cross country. She was the league’s indoor track and field champion in the one-mile run and 3,000-meter run indoor and conference’s outdoor track and field champion in the 1,500-meter run and 5,000-meter run.

Mitchell is the owner of two UW Oshkosh track and field records: the indoor one-mile run with a time of 4:44.0 and the outdoor 5,000-meter run with a performance of 17:02.36.

Mitchell touts a 3.91 cumulative grade point average as an elementary education major. Last month, the four-time University Dean’s List member was named the female winner of the UW Oshkosh John Taylor Scholar-Athlete Award.

Since CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program began in 1952, 40 UW Oshkosh student-athletes have combined to receive 51 awards.