Emory University senior Annika Urban was honored by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization Wednesday afternoon by being named as a member of the Academic All-America First Team.
This is the first time Urban has earned a spot on the CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America team and she becomes the first women's cross country and track and field athlete to earn the honor.
With Urban's honor, 14 different Eagles have been named an Academic All-American during the 2022-23 academic calendar – the most in a single year in the history of the Emory Athletics department. Urban joins Aubrey Blanchard and Kylie Hall (women's soccer), Claire Brock (women's basketball), Taylor Leone, Caroline Maki and Sloane Donovan (women's swimming and diving), Jake Meyer, Lucas Bumgarner and Ryan Gibbons (men's swimming and diving), Nolan Shah (men's tennis), Alexa Goetz (women's tennis), Tyler Miller (softball) and Henry Pelinski (baseball) as recipients of the prestigious honor.
To view the entire CSC Academic All-America Team, click here.
During the cross country season, Urban became a standout winning six out of the seven events she competed in. She started the season with a first place finish at the JSU Foothills Invitational posting a time of 13:50.43, the only runner to break the 14 minute mark at the event. At the Julius Johnson Invitational, she posted a time of 17:44 in the 5k while no other runner at the meet broke the 19 minute threshold. Urban's time became the third fastest 5k time in program history and the fastest since 2002. She continued to shatter records at the Paul Short Run finishing the 6k with a time of 20:22 beating the previous program record by 37 seconds. Urban won her sixth consecutive meet at the NCAA South Regional running a 22:29.3 before earning All-America honors at the NCAA Championships.
She had another impressive indoor season holding the top time this season in both the mile and 3000m and broke the school record in the 3000m (9:28.14) this season. Urban received three All-UAA honors and set the UAA Indoor Championship record in both the 5000m (16:55.37) and the mile (4:53.43). She shattered both the program record and the NCAA DIII Indoor Championship record with a 4:43.17 in the mile to become the first Eagle to win an individual championship at the Indoor Championships.
Urban had one of the best track seasons of her career as she continued to shatter records and make a name for herself during the outdoor season. Competing in the Lee Last Chance meet, she clocked in a 4:19.43 in the 1500m placing her seventh in DIII history in the event. She became the first DIII runner to go under 4:25 this season in the event. Urban broke the UAA Championship record in the 1500m with a 4:28.67, the third fastest time in the nation at the time and fourth in program history. She was named USTFCCCA National Track Athlete of the Week in April after registering a time of 16:06.95 in the 5000m run which placed her into third all time in Division III history. Urban finished out her Emory career in Urban fashion – winning championships. At the NCAA DIII Championships in May, Urban headlined the Eagles on the final day by capturing the national championship in the 1500m run with a time of 4:22.16. She earned her fifth track All-American honor in the 5000m later in the day with a time of 16:46.60 good for a fifth place finish.
Alongside Urban, teammates Audrey Johnson, Libby Ranocha and Dashiel Tao Harris were also named to the CSC Academic All-District Team earlier this month and proceeded to be placed on the All-America ballot for voting. CSC Academic All-America Teams are nominated and voted on by College Sport Communicators and Sports Information Directors across all Division III institutions.
The CSC Academic All-America team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. To be nominated, student-athletes must be a key member of their respective teams, maintain a 3.50 grade point average, be of sophomore standing or higher, and have attended their current institutions for at least one year.