2015 Augustana graduate Becca Sund (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) has been named to the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America first team for women's track & field/cross country. Sund, who was a third team honoree a year ago, becomes the school's 158th Academic All-American with this year's selection.
 
The daughter of Mollie and Rich Sund of Palatine, Illinois, Sund graduated with a 3.97 grade point average in mathematics and secondary education. She also completed a minor in Spanish. She was this year's female winner of the Knut Erickson Award at Augustana, given to the Viking blanket award winner with the highest cumulative GPA. To receive a blanket, an athlete must compete in a given sport for four seasons and earn a varsity letter in at least three. In addition, she was an eight-time academic all-conference performer.
 
This March, Sund was awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship—becoming one of just 34 Augustana athletes since 1968 so honored.
 
A two-time Viking cross country MVP, Sund finished in the top ten in four of the seven races in which she competed last fall, including a first-place finish at the Wartburg Invitational on October 4. She also earned CCIW Athlete of the Week honors after a second place finish at the Fighting Bee Opener on Augustana 29.
 
In track, Sund had Viking bests this year at 3000 meters (10:32.55) indoors and in the mile (5:25.40) outdoors. She also anchored Augustana's winning 4x1600 relay (21:33.55) at the Norse Relays in April. In addition, she anchored the Viking distance medley relay that finished 12th in the College Division at the Drake Relays.
 
Sund's student teaching assignments took her to Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa and Geneseo Middle School in Geneseo, Illinois. Among the classes she taught were honors pre-calculus, advanced algebra, trigonometry and geometry.
 
The Capital One Academic All-America team is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and Augustana has a long and storied history of success with the program. Currently the Vikings are seventh for number of Academic All-Americans produced with 158. Augustana is in third place among NCAA Division III schools with only Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emory University having produced more. Augustana ranks first in both the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and the state of Illinois.