MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A trio of West Virginia University runners received Capital One Academic All-America honors this week, as Kelly Williams was named to the Division I Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country First Team while Kaitlyn Gillespie was named to the second team and Jillian Forsey received third-team honors.

 

A total of 12 Mountaineers earned Capital One Academic All-America honors this year, marking a school record for West Virginia.

 

A junior from Chesterland, Ohio, Williams received the NCAA’s Elite 89 Award at this fall’s NCAA Cross Country Championships. The honor is given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 89 championships. Prior to that she helped the Mountaineers to their second straight runner-up finish at the Big 12 Championships, taking 21st overall. During the indoor season, Williams placed seventh in the mile and was a member of sixth-place distance medley relay. She capped her season by competing in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA East Region. Williams is a strategic communications major who boasts a 4.0 GPA and has previously been named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team, Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List and Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll.

 

Gillespie earned second-team All-America honors with a ninth-place finish in the 10,00-meter run at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene earlier this month. She took seventh at the NCAA East Region in the event after winning the Big 12 title in the 10,000-meter run at this year’s Big 12 Championships in a time of 33:45.56. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, native earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors in addition to Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll accolades. She is an exercise physiology major who registered a 3.94 GPA as an undergrad before posting a 3.69 GPA while pursuing graduate studies.

 

A sophomore, Forsey was named a USTFCCCA All-American and NCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region honoree this fall after earning a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and taking second at the Mid-Atlantic Regional. A native of Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, she placed seventh in the 5,000-meter run at the 2015 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships before taking third in the event at the Big 12 outdoor meet. Forsey was named to the 2014 All-Big 12 Cross Country Team as well as the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. She posted a GPA of 3.94 as an exercise physiology major.