Seven University of Albany Great Danes Earn America East Indoor Track & Field All-Academic Honors - UAlbany Sports 2010

Cambridge, Mass. - University at Albany's Laura Cummings headlines a list of a league-best seven Great Danes who were named to the America East Conference Indoor Track and Field All-Academic Team, as announced by the league office. Cummings, who is being honored for the third straight season, was joined by Valete Graham, who is making his second appearance on the squad, as well as first-time winners Fey Adaramola, Celine Cauderlier, Paul Lagno, Peter Rowell and Nasim Siddeeq. All seven student-athletes helped UAlbany capture the America East Conference men's and women's championships in the same year for the first time in school history.

Cummings, a senior middle-distance runner from Bay Shore, N.Y., has a 3.50 cumulative grade point average as an English major with a minor in education. She has been a member of the 2008 and 2009 USTFCCCA Division I Women's All-Academic Track & Field Team, the 2008 and 2009 ESPN The Magazine District I Academic All-America Women's Track and Field Team and the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. A transfer from North Carolina, Cummings was the only student-athlete in the conference to qualify for the ECAC Championship in five different events. She racked up 16 points individually at the America East championship by placing third in the 1,000-meter run (2:57.03), third in the 5,000 (17:00.92) and fifth in the mile (4:58.02). She also helped earn an additional five points by anchoring the fourth-place 4x800-meter relay (9:23.23) in leading the women's team to its first America East indoor championship.

Graham, a senior horizontal jumper from Bronx, N.Y., is being honored for the second straight year. He carries a 3.71 GPA as a psychology major. Graham made the 2008 and 2009 USTFCCCA Division I Men's All-Academic Track and Field Team, the 2009 ESPN The Magazine District I Academic All-America Men's Track and Field Team and was named the 2009 America East Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year outdoors. He won the long jump with a leap of 23-feet, 6-inches and placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 47-10 to help the Great Danes capture their conference-record fifth straight America East indoor title. Graham broke the school record in the long jump with a first-place mark of 24-6.50 at the Great Dane Classic, which fell just shy of the NCAA provisional standard. He also placed fourth in the long jump at the IC4A Championship by leaping 23-2.75.

Adaramola, a short sprinter from Bronx, N.Y., has a 3.34 GPA as a human biology major. She was named to the 2009 USTFCCCA Division I Women's All-Academic Track & Field Team and also serves on the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). A transfer from Central Florida, Adaramola was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer at the America East championship meet by winning the 55- and 200-meter dash events in 7.10 and 24.18 seconds, respectively, and anchoring the second-place 4x400-meter relay which hit the tape in 3:49.01. Her time in the 200m was a school record. In addition, the senior captain helped UAlbany post its highest finish ever at the ECAC Championship by winning the 60m-dash in 7.55, which matched a program standard, and finishing fifth in the 200 in 24.87. Adaramola also broke the school record in the 55-meters (6.96) at the Great Dane Classic.

Cauderlier, a junior pole vaulter from Entzhein, France, has a 3.56 GPA as a journalism major with a minor in geography. She has been a member of the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. Cauderlier won the pole vault and set a school record by clearing 11-6.50 at the America East championship, garnering all-conference honors in the event for the second straight season. A transfer from Université Louis Pasteur, Cauderlier also set the outdoor record of 11-9.75 at the France National Championship last summer.

Lagno, a sophomore middle-distance runner from Salt Point, N.Y., is a financial market regulation major who carries a 3.47 GPA. He has been a member of the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. An IC4A qualifier in four events, Lagno individually placed sixth in the 1,000-meter run at the America East championship. He also anchored the winning distance medley relay team which hit the tape in 9:54.94 and ran a leg for the third-place 4x800-meter relay (7:42.66).

Rowell, a sophomore long sprinter from Scotia, N.Y., has a 3.74 GPA as an accounting major with a minor in business administration. He earned a spot on the 2009 USTFCCCA Division I Men's All-Academic Track and Field Team. At the America East championship, Rowell placed seventh in the 500-meter dash (1:04.66) after running a personal-best time of 1:04.22 in the prelims. He also ran the third leg for the second-place 4x400-meter relay team that was timed at 3:12.18, just .02 seconds shy of the winner. At IC4As, Rowell competed on the fourth-place 4x400-meter relay which clocked in the fastest time in the region (3:11.31). The performance iced the Great Danes' second straight IC4A title.

Siddeeq, a senior horizontal jumper from New Hampton, N.Y., carries a 3.33 GPA as a Spanish major with a dual minor in music and education. He has made the America East Conference Academic Honor Roll. Siddeeq, who was named the 2009 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Division I Field Performer of the Year and 2009 America East Conference Most Outstanding Field Performer, won the triple jump at the IC4A Championship last weekend by leaping 51-0.25, an NCAA provisional mark. He is the first Great Dane to win a field event at the IC4A meet. Siddeeq was also victorious in the America East triple jump (50-2), plus placed second in the long jump (23-5.25). Siddeeq set the conference championship meet record in the triple jump (51-4.25) in 2009.

To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team's games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution.


Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information