AUSTIN, Texas – Eastern Oregon University student-athlete
Hans Roelle has been named the 2015 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year for Men's Track and Field/Cross Country, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It marks the first-ever Academic All-American on the Year for the EOU athletic department.
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Roelle is the seventh student-athlete from EOU to earn first, second or third-team Academic All-American honors in school history; is the first two-time first-team Academic All-American from the University; and is the second athlete from EOU to earn two Academic All-America honors, as Shannon Rasmussen was a first-team selection in 2004 and third-team pick in 2005.
"I think having good time management and being able to determine what I can afford to sacrifice," Roelle said. "As a student athlete, it is difficult to find the time in a day to do everything you want to academically and athletically. So I think that making the correct sacrifices has been a key for me. [For example] being able to effectively determine whether an extra hour of sleep or an extra hour of study time is more important can make a big difference."
Roelle is the first Cascade Collegiate Conference student-athlete to claim an Academic All-American of the Year since Meagan Webber of Oregon Tech in 2001-02.
"Hans has consistently helped raise the profile of the cross country and track and field programs here at EOU and this is just one more example of what he has come to represent here at EOU," mentioned
Ben Welch, EOU's cross country and track and field coach.
At the 2014 NAIA Cross Country National Championships, Roelle led his team to a fourth-place finish, the second highest finish for the Mountaineers in school history, placing 33rd in the race.
During the first indoor meet of the season, Roelle qualified for the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:26.81, competing against Evan Jager, the U.S. 3,000-meter steeplechase record holder and Matt Centrowitzin, the 1,500-meter bronze medalist. Roelle also qualified for the national championships in the 800-meters (1:52.16).
At Indoor Nationals, Roelle used a gutsy race while battling an Achilles injury to defend his national title in the event. After posting the top time in the 1,000-meter preliminaries, Roelle raced in the top four for the majority of the race and right before the final lap, fell back to sixth place. With 100-meters to go, the EOU standout made his move surged to the lead to win by two seconds (2:25.62), clocking the fastest time in the NAIA. He finished in a time of 2:25.62, as he defended his title by winning this year by two seconds. Roelle ran the fastest time in the 1,000 in the NAIA this season.
Outdoors, Roelle limited his competition due to his injury, but met the NAIA automatic mark in the 800-meters at the Boise State Border Clash (1:50.66), while defending his 800-meter title at the CCC Championships, helping EOU win their first conference championship since 2007.
Roelle, the defending outdoor 800-meter NAIA champion, was unable to rekindle the magic at the Outdoor Nationals Championships, as a hamstring injury sidelined his repeat chance.
"Although I was not able to finish my running career as I would have wanted, it's very gratifying to receive an award that in a way represents the culmination of my five years at Eastern Oregon University as both an athlete and a student," Roelle stated.
During his four year career, Roelle was an eight time U.S. Bank Academic All-CCC selection, a six-time NAIA All-American and a five-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete. He was also honored this year as with the EOU Male Scholar Athlete Award.
"With the difficult end to a brilliant career at the National Outdoor meet, this is a nice way to cap his career," Welch said.
"It is difficult to rank because some of the things my teammates and I were able to accomplish athletically have certain sentimentality to them," Roelle said. "But it is a special award for me because it combines athletic performance and academic performance. Receiving this award is a very gratifying way to end my five-year career at Eastern Oregon."
The Capital One College Division Academic All-America® men's cross country/track and Field teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions, and are nominated, voted up on, and selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To qualify, student-athletes must be a starter or key reserve with a 3.3 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and be in their second season of competition at the institution.
"The best advice I could give a student-athlete is to be smart with time management by determining the best use of any free time," Roelle said. "This also includes finding the time for activities that allow you to keep your mind off school and athletics without compromising performance in either."
For the complete First and Second Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-Americans,
click here.