AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's cross country and track & field programs had three student-athletes selected to the 2022-23 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America® team on Wednesday morning, with Audrey Bloomquist garnering second team honors and Riley McGrath and Melissa Moreni each bringing home third team accolades.
 
The 2022-23 Academic All-America® Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom with a minimum grade-point-averages of 3.5 or higher. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes women's track & field/cross country honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.  
 
A recent graduate from the College of Business and Administration with a perfect 4.00 GPA, Bloomquist makes her way to the CSC Academic All-America Second Team after an incredible 2022-23 season in which she also garnered CSC Academic All-District accolades, a pair of RMAC All-Academic First Team honors and the Women's Outdoor Track & Field NCAA Elite 90 Award, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the national championship site of competition. Recently named the RMAC Woman of the Year and nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the Helena, Mont., native also put together a breakout season in the field of competition as she established personal best marks in the 60m dash (7.51s), 100m dash (11.84s), indoor long jump (5.75m), outdoor long jump (5.90m), indoor triple jump (12.20m), and outdoor triple jump (12.50m). Bloomquist proved to be a dominant force at the 2023 RMAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships as she was named the RMAC Women's Athlete of the Meet at both competitions after winning five individual event titles and scoring a total of 64 points. The outstanding jumper and sprinter also made her mark on the national stage as she qualified for both the indoor and outdoor national championship meets in the triple jump and went on to finish the season with a total of seven First Team All-RMAC honors, four USTFCCCA All-Region accolades, and a USTFCCCA Second Team All-America nod for the indoor triple jump.
 
One year after becoming just the third women's student-athlete in program history to be selected as a First Team Academic All-American, McGrath earns the prestigious honor for the second time in her career as she was named to the third team for the 2022-23 season. A CSC Academic All-District honoree, RMAC All-Academic First Team selection following the cross country season, and a member of the indoor track & field honor roll, McGrath has posted a nearly-perfect 3.985 GPA as a business major. The native of Spring Branch, Texas, played an instrumental part in helping the UCCS women's cross country team record a program-best fourth place finish at the 2022 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships as she raced to First Team All-America honors with a 32nd place finish overall. Earlier in the season, the exceptional distance runner also managed to establish a new personal best time in the 5K with a mark of 17:44.5 at the Louisville Classic and earned Second Team All-RMAC and USTFCCCA All-Region accolades. During the indoor track & field season, McGrath went on to post a season-best NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:56.25 in the mile at the Colorado Invitational on Jan. 27 while also competing in the 800m and 3,000m races.
 
Moreni makes an appearance as a member of the CSC Academic All-America Third Team for the second consecutive season after she posted a 3.94 GPA as a biology major. A CSC Academic All-District honoree and a member of the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll for the indoor and outdoor seasons, Moreni continued to impress in the hurdles events during the 2022-23 campaign as she kicked off the year by breaking her own indoor school record for the 60m hurdles at the CRC Mountain Lion Open before going on to win the individual championship for the event at the RMAC Indoor Championships. A USTFCCCA All-Region selection for her season best converted time of 8.50s in the 60m hurdles, Moreni went on to make her second career appearance at the indoor national championship meet, where she clocked a 15th place finish. The Helena, Mont., native maintained her success into the outdoor season as she contributed 18 points to the RMAC Champion women's team at the outdoor conference championship meet as part of the first-place women's 4x100m relay team and the runner-up in the 100m hurdles. With the 14th-fastest 100m hurdle time in the nation on the NCAA Division II Outdoor Qualifying list, Moreni earned a selection to the outdoor national championship meet and went on to earn First Team All-America status in the event for the second consecutive year with an eighth-place finish and a school record time of 13.60s.
 
The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 Division II Academic All-America® program.
 
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