Backel Adds Third Academic All-America Honor

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Big 12 javelin champion is Oklahoma's first ever three-time Academic All-American.

June 24, 2010
http://www.soonersports.com

NORMAN, Okla. — Amy Backel placed her name on a distinctive list in Oklahoma athletics history Thursday. So distinctive, Backel is the only name on the list as she became Oklahoma’s first ever, male or female, three-time ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-American as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The announcement comes just under two weeks after Backel, a civil engineering major, earned her second All-America honor in the javelin, an event she captured the 2010 Big 12 Championship in.

The Academic All-America honor is the latest in a long line of accomplishments for Backel, both on and off the competitive field. The senior from Dillsburg, Pa., was named the 2010 OU College of Engineering Outstanding Senior in Civil Engineering and has been named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team all four years of her athletic career, carrying a 4.0 grade point average for three of the four years. In her collegiate career, Backel, who is beginning work on her master’s degree in engineering, recorded a B just once.

Backel owns six All-Big 12 honors and was also recently named a recipient of the Big 12’s Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship. Backel is also the first ever female athlete at OU to earn three ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors.

A three-time NCAA Championship qualifier, Backel officially closes out her collegiate career Friday morning as she competes in the javelin at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

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