College Notebook
Nick Polk resigns as Elon head cross country coach
Elon cross country coach and assistant track coach Nick Polk has resigned to accept a role with USA Track & Field as a Sports Science and Medicine Manager, Director of Athletics Dave Blank announced Friday. A national search for Polk’s successor is underway.
Polk took helm of the Phoenix cross country program in August of 2014. Under his guidance, Elon has had athletes break several school-records on both the cross country and track and field distance performance lists.
The Elon cross country program has had 12 all-conference athletes during Polk’s tenure including three straight men’s Colonial Athletic Association individual champions and two consecutive CAA Women’s Rookie of the Year harriers. He also helped lead Luis Vargas to become the program’s first-ever All-American at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2014.
Polk was also key in helping the Phoenix track and field program to a pair of league championships during the outdoor season in 2015 and 2016.
Track and Field
Wake Forest: Robert Heppenstall finished fourth and broke a school record in the men’s 800-meter national final at the NCAA Championships on Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The sophomore finished with a personal-best and school record-breaking time of 1:46.68, surpassing the previous record of 1:46.74 set by Warren Sherman in 1995.
Up next, Ellie Abrahamson competed in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase final Saturday.
Duke: Rookie Katelyn Gochenour and senior Christine Streisel secured first team All-America honors. Graduate student Daniel Golubovic, senior Madeline Kopp, junior Madison Heath and freshman Laura Marty collected second team All-America accolades. Kopp was also a member of the second team All-America 4x400 relay alongside teammates MacKenzie Kerr, India Lowe and Maddy Price.
UNC: Sarah Howard earned second-team All-America honors in the shot put at the NCAA Championships after a NCAA Championship-best throw of 16.58 meters (54-4¾) to finish 12th, which was also a best for Howard at the championships.
Baseball
UNC: Freshman right-hander Gianluca Dalatri has been added to the 28-man roster for the 2017 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Dalatri. A freshman All-American who went 7-3 with a 3.34 ERA in his debut season with the Tar Heels, will participate with the CNT through July 1 in a pair of series against domestic and international competition.
Women’s Tennis
UNC: Jessie Aney, Hayley Carter and Sara Daavettila were named Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Americans for the 2016-17 season. Carter locked up All-America honors in both singles and doubles, while Aney grabbed a spot on the doubles team and Daavettila earned her way onto the singles team.
Men’s Tennis
UNC: As the Tar Heels enjoyed success on the court this spring, the team also had an outstanding year off of it. The team’s grade point average during the spring semester was 3.255, the highest in the past five years. Ten players earned semester grade point averages of 3.0 or better.
Swimming and Diving
N.C. State: Anton Ipsen as earned 2017 CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America honors, the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Women’s Lacrosse
Duke: Former Blue Devil All-American Kerrin Maurer will represent Italy at the 2017 Federation of International Lacrosse Rathbones World Cup, as announced earlier this spring by the Italian Lacrosse Federation. A 2015 graduate, Maurer will travel with the 18-player team to the tournament July 12-22 in Guildford, England.
From news releases
This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."