Daniel is Selected Second Team Capital One Academic All-America

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University heptathlete and jumper Bekah Daniel (Sr., Jr., elig., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS), who placed 21st in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Championships has been named Second Team Capital One Academic All-America on the 2013-14 NCAA Division III Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Student-athletes chosen for the Capital One Academic All-America Team were starters or key reserves with cumulative grade point averages of 3.3 or higher (4.0 scale). Each athlete was at her current college or university for at least one academic year. A total of 45 student-athletes received All-America honors, with 15 each on the First Team, Second Team and Third Team.

It is the fourth consecutive year that a Willamette student-athlete has been named Academic All-America on the Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team. Jaela Dinsmore '12 was chosen Third Team Academic All-America in 2011 and was named First Team Academic All-America in 2012. Theresa Edwards '13 was named Second Team Academic All-America in 2013.

Second Team Capital One Academic All-America

Bekah Daniel graduated from Willamette this spring with a major in Physics and a minor in Mathematics. She held a 3.94 cumulative grade point average through the fall 2013 semester. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.

At the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 24, Daniel placed 21st in the triple jump with a distance of 36' 5". Just nine days earlier, she set Willamette' record in the triple jump with a career-best distance of 38' 6.75" at the West Coast Invitational.

During the Northwest Conference Championships this spring, Daniel won her second consecutive NWC title in the triple jump at 37' 8". It was her personal-best result at the time.

Daniel also placed third in the NWC in the heptathlon with a personal record score of 4,411 points and was third in the long jump at 17' 5.25". Her score in the heptathlon was the second highest all-time at Willamette and ranked 23rd in NCAA Division III during the regular season this year.

In 2013, Daniel scored points at the NWC Championships by winning the triple jump, placing third in the 100-meter hurdles, taking fourth in the long jump and taking fifth in the heptathlon. At the NWC Championships in 2012, she was fifth in the triple jump and placed sixth in the heptathlon.

Daniel received Willamette's Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 2013-14 by maintaining the highest cumulative grade point average. She also received the Jean Williams Award as the top senior women's athlete at Willamette based on athletics, academics and leadership.

She has been honored by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with All-Academic honors each of the past two seasons in track and field and has met the criteria to be named again this year.

Daniel competed in a variety of track and field events this spring. She achieved Willamette's best mark of the season in the 100-meter hurdles, long jump, triple jump and heptathlon.

At Willamette, Daniel received the William H. Webber Scholarship and the Phil Hanni Scholarship. She was selected by Willamette for a Science Collaborative Research Program grant.