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LANCASTER, PA – Franklin & Marshall College’s Meredith Janeczek (So., Hershey, PA/Hershey) has been named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II College Division Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Team. A member of the NCAA Division III Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team for having a 3.5 cumulative GPA and finishing in the top 25% of the regional meet, her selection to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine All-District team makes her eligible for Academic All-America honors, as she will be included on the ballot for the national team. A three-sport athlete in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track & field, she could become the first Franklin & Marshall women’s cross country or track & field athlete to earn Academic All-America honors. The team’s #1 runner for much of the season and the 2004 Franklin & Marshall Women’s Cross Country Most Valuable Runner, she closed out the season on November 13 at Allegheny College as Janeczek crossed the finish line in 23:35 to place 25th and earn All-Region honors as the Franklin & Marshall College women’s cross country team finished 11th of 43 teams at the NCAA Mid-East Region Championships. Historically, Janeczek became the first F&M harrier to earn All-Region honors since the 1999 championships. At the 2004 Centennial Conference Championship race hosted by McDaniel College on October 30, Janeczek crossed the finish line in 23:39 over the six-kilometer course to earn All-Centennial Conference honors and lead the Diplomats to a sixth place finish. The finish marked the sixth best finish by an F&M team since the inaugural CC championship race in 1993. The placement also snapped a four year streak of ninth place finishes by F&M (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) as the Diplomats have finished third (1999), fifth (1993, 1995, 1996, 1998), sixth (1994, 1997, 2004) and ninth since the Conference’s first championship race.
Historically, she became the first All-Centennial Conference
selection for F&M in cross country since 1999 and her finish
marked the highest by a Franklin & Marshall women’s harrier
since Jamie Kendig won the 1994 individual championship.
At the Goucher College Invitational on October 9, Janeczek finished first in 19:54.45 as the Franklin & Marshall College women's cross country team totaled 30 points to win the invitational. The meet was historical for the Diplomats as it marked the first invitational win by a Franklin & Marshall College women's cross country team since 1993 when F&M won the Salisbury University Tidewater Invitational on October 16 and the Little Three Championships (F&M 27, Gettysburg 30/ F&M 25, Dickinson 30) on November 3. Individually, Janeczek's victory marked her second of the season as crossed the finish line in 24:05 over the six-kilometer course at the McDaniel Invitational to finish first. Her pair of victories marked the first time an F&M women's cross country runner finished first in two invitationals in the same season since Jamie Kendig '96 accomplished the feat at the Davis & Elkins (21:17) and Dickinson (18:45) Invitationals during the 1994 season. In track, she set the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:29.39) to finish a few seconds off provisional qualifying and win the silver medal in the event at the 2005 Centennial Conference Outdoor Track Championships at Muhlenberg College. A Sociology and Studio Art major at the College, she completed the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on January 9, 2005 in support of blindness prevention as she joined the charity marathon training program Team 20/20 to raise funds for the Prevent Blindness Georgia Children’s Vision Screening Program. As a full-time student and runner, Janeczek challenged herself to raise $2,000, but exceeded all of her expectations at Disney by winning first place in her age group in the half marathon with a personal best 1:33 finishing time and raising more than $4,000 for Prevent Blindness. The District II region includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Athletes named to the district first team qualify for the national ballot, with the Academic All-America team announced on June 23.
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