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Woolnough Named CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America
6/21/2022 9:53 AM | Track & Field
Cara Woolnough continues to rack up the awards, this time garnering CoSIDA Academic First Team All-America honors.
AUSTIN, Texas – Utah ccross country and track & field standout Cara Woolnough continues to cement her legacy on The Hill and named CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America on Tuesday by the national organization.
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Woolnough, who recently graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA in biomedical engineering, becomes the fifth Woman of Utah to earn this distinction and just the second time someone from the cross country and track & field team has earned first-team honors. She is also the only Utah student-athlete to earn First Team Academic All-America honors this academic year while Britain Covey (Football), Sam Hendry (Skiing) and Abby Paulson (Gymnastics) all earned second team honors.
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The Brisbane, Australia, native closed out her career with second-team All-America honors after finishing 12th overall at the NCAA Championships in the 5000m. Prior to the final race of her career, Woolnough became just the third student-athlete from the U to receive the NCAA Elite 90 Award. Woolnough has now racked up 15 academic awards in her career at the U – including five this season alone.
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After opting out of the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19, Woolnough returned stateside from her home in Australia and has since been on a tear in 2021-22. She started the year helping Utah win the Dellinger Invitational before taking second at the FSU Invite/Pre-Nats race. She then garnered First-Team All-Pac-12 honors after finishing seventh overall at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships to help the Women of Utah place second – which was the program's highest finish ever since joining the league. Woolnough then garnered All-Mountain Region honors after finishing in the top-25 before setting a new PR at the NCAA Championships.
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Woolnough opened the indoor season with a victory in the 5000m race and jumped into fourth all-time at Utah before moving into third all-time at the end of the indoor season with a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Invitational. She broke into the top-10 at Utah in the 3000m this season as well.
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The outdoor season kicked off with a bang for Woolnough after she won the 1500m run with the seventh-fastest time at Utah. Two races later, Woolnough broke the school record in the 5000m at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a time of 15:40.52. The following week, Woolnough added to the outdoor record books running a leg on the 4x1600m relay team that took second with a school record time of 19:11.37. Woolnough then closed out the season with a fourth-place finish in the 5K at the conference meet before taking second in her heat to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.
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UTAH WOMEN'S XC/TF COSIDA ALL-AMERICANS
YEARÂ Â Â Â NAME (TEAM)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Brooke LoBue (3rd)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Lauren Enderson (3rd)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Lauren Enderson (1st)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Rosalie Waller (3rd)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Cara Woolnough (1st)
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For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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