Illinois States Stacia Beste was selected as a third team member of the 2000 GTE Academic All-American University Womens Spring At-Large Team, Thursday.
Beste, a native of Shorewood, Wis., is majoring in psychology and has a 3.86 GPA. She was nominated for the national honor after being a first-team selection of the 2000 GTE Academic All-District V University Division Womens Spring At-Large Team. She is a two-time member of the United States Womens Cross Country Coaches All-Academic Team and has been selected to the Valley Scholar-Athlete Team all three years.
In the fall she was a second-team member of the 1999-2000 GTE Academic All-District V University Division Womens Fall/Winter At-Large Team. She has also been named as a 2000 Illinois State Bone Scholar, the highest academic honor on campus.
Beste claimed her first league championship on the track after winning the 5,000-meter run at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Beste also legged a second-place finish in the 10,000-meter run.
In the fall, Beste qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships after finishing sixth at the District V Regional. She was named to the All-Valley team in 1999, 1998 and 1997, while being a part of the AFNI Athletic Honor Roll six times, including two 4.0 semesters.
Head coach John Coughlan, who announced his retirement from coaching on May 3, was never surprised with Bestes success in the classroom or on the track.
Being a two-time academic honoree by the U.S. Womens Cross Country Coaches Association and having a 4.0 grade point average in the last calendar year, while taking 39 hours, any academic honor Stacia receives is not a surprise, Coughlan said. I would find it hard to believe that anyone in the country could top what Stacia has accomplished academically and athletically.
