Tuesday, September 3, 2019

CLEVELAND – After capping an exceptional career both in the classroom and on the cross country courses and track at Central Washington University, Alexa Shindruk has been named one of nine regional Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winners by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).

Shindruk, who graduated in June with a 4.0 GPA as an accounting major, was one of five women’s honorees and one of six overall honorees for regional awards to amass a perfect GPA.

The D2CCA award is another feather in the cap for Shindruk, who received All-American honors in cross country and outdoor track and field and was a Second Team All-American during the indoor track season. Named the GNAC’s 2018-19 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Shindruk also received the prestigious Elite 90 Award at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site of each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.

Shindruk opened the year as one of the conference’s strongest cross country runners. She was the runner-up at November’s GNAC Cross Country Championships, turning in a time of 21:31.1 over 6,000 meters to earn All-GNAC honors. Two weeks later, Shindruk placed eighth at the NCAA West Region Championships with a time of 21:27.52. She joined teammate Nicole Soleim in earning individual berths to the NCAA Championships.

At the national meet, Shindruk led all GNAC competitors as she clocked a time of 23:14.7 to finish in 21st place. In the process, she became the first Central Washington woman since 2013 to earn All-American honors in cross country.

Shindruk did not slow down once she moved indoors. The senior took second place in the 3,000 meters at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in a time of 10:00.38. She qualified for the national championships in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and earned Second Team All-American honors when she placed ninth in the 3,000 and 11th in the 5,000.

During the outdoor season, Shindruk was the runner-up in the 5,000 meters at the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, clocking a time of 16:47.08. A qualifier for nationals in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, Shindruk earned All-American trophies in both races. She placed seventh in the 5,000 meters in a time of 17:27.70 and seventh in the 10,000 meters in a time of 38:04.69.

Shindruk finished the indoor season with the No. 15 time in Division II in the 3,000 meters (9:42.19) and the No. 16 time in the 5,000 meters (16:48.43). Outdoors, Shindruk finished with the No. 3 time in Division II in the 10,000 meters (34:25.41) and the No. 17 time in the 5,000 meters (16:47.08).