Four Great Danes Earn America East Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Laurels

Cambridge, Mass. - University at Albany's Laura Cummings and Valete Graham headline a list of four Great Danes who were named to the America East Conference Outdoor Track and Field All-Academic Team, as announced by the league office on Tuesday, May 18. Cummings and Graham, who are each being honored for the third straight season, were joined by Fey Adaramola and Peter Rowell. The honorees helped UAlbany become the first school to capture all four America East Conference men's and women's track and field championships in the same academic year, including both outdoor team titles for the fourth time in five seasons.

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, the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. The transfer from North Carolina most recently broke her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by registering a 10th-place time of 10:29.27 at the ECAC Championship, breaking her winning mark of 10:33.60 at the 2008 America East meet. She also placed second in the event at the America East championships (10:47.93) to garner all-conference laurels for the third straight year. Cummings, who ranks 22nd in the East Region in the steeplechase, accumulated an additional point by placing eighth in the 1,500-meter run in 4:38.89. Cummings has now made seven America East all-academic squads in the sports of track and field and cross country.

Graham, a senior horizontal jumper from Bronx, N.Y., 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 and the 2010 America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year indoors. In addition, he was a 2010 ECAC Merit Medal winner and a recipient of the Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Award. Graham won the long jump for the third straight season at the America East championship by leaping 24-feet, 7.75-inches, becoming just the second student-athlete to accomplish the feat in league history. He also became the first UAlbany student-athlete to claim three straight crowns in an individual event at the championship. The senior achieved an additional four points by placing fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 47-8. Last weekend, he placed eighth in the long jump (23-9.50) at the IC4A Championship. Graham has now made five America East all-academic teams, both indoors and outdoors, in his career.

Adaramola, a short sprinter from Bronx, N.Y., has a 3.34 GPA as a human biology major. She landed on the 2009 USTFCCCA Division I Women's All-Academic Track & Field Team and was named the 2010 America East Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year indoors as well as a 2010 ECAC Merit Medal winner. A transfer from Central Florida who serves on the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Adaramola racked up 18 points individually with ECAC-qualifying times at the America East championship by winning the 100-meter dash in 11.86 seconds and placing second in the 200 in 24.19. The senior captain anchored three relay teams which broke school records this spring, including the winning 4x100 (46.27) and second-place 4x400 (3:45.52) at the America East meet. The 4x200-meter squad she ran on at Penn Relays hit the tape in 1:39.32.

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 and the America East all-academic team indoors this past winter. At the America East championship, Rowell placed third in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles by navigating the track in a personal-best time of 53.62 seconds. He also anchored the second-place 4x400-meter relay that hit the tape in 3:13.10. Both marks met IC4A standards.

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