Tracksters Taylor and Bolm Receive GTE Academic All-American District VIII Honors

PROVO, Utah (May 23) - BYU track standouts Susan Taylor and Kirsten Bolm were named to the GTE Spring Academic All-American District VIII team Tuesday. Taylor, a senior from Salt Lake City, was named to the first team, while Bolm, a senior from Scheesel, Germany, was named to the second team.

Taylor has a 3.95 GPA in English and is an All-American for the outdoor track and field team. After earning her first All-American letter as a member of the second-place distance medley relay at the NCAA indoor meet, Taylor is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation in the outdoor 1500 meters. She was named Mountain West Conference Athlete of the Week April 19. Last weekend, Taylor became the 2000 MWC 1500-meter champion, and placed third in the 800 meters.

Bolm qualified by earning a 3.55 GPA in psychology. She was the high point scorer at the MWC outdoor meet, racking up 28 points for the Cougars on wins in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles and a second-place finish in the 100 meters. Her 21'-6" performance tied the school long jump record, and her time of 13.02 in the 100-meter hurdles was the second-best in school history. Bolm has automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events. On April 11 and April 25, she was named the Mountain West Conference Athlete of the Week.

District VIII includes schools in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. The teams were chosen by a panel of voters from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Athletes qualified for maintaining at least a 3.20 GPA while playing a significant role for their teams.

The District VIII winners advance to the GTE All-American national ballot. The national team will be announced on June 15, 2000.