University Park, Pa. — Senior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team, announced by CoSIDA on Thursday. To be eligible for the award, student athletes must excel in the classroom and on the playing field, carrying at least a 3.30 grade point average. Foster, who will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships next week, is on track to graduate in August, with a degree in economics.
The senior will make his third-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, next week, having qualified in the 1500-meters. A four-time Big Ten Champion at 800-meters, Foster will cap an outstanding Nittany Lion career in hopes of adding another All-America finish to his resume. So far in 2011, Foster snagged top honors in the 800 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, before moving on to a third-place finish in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The senior would also set a Penn State record in the mile indoors, going 3:58.49 to become the first Tasmanian citizen to dip under the four-minute barrier indoors, and just the second Nittany Lion to achieve the feat.
In the conference ranks season, Foster earned runner-up status in the 1500 at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Foster also anchored the winning sprint-medley relay at Penn Relays this spring, helping the Nittany Lions’ to a school-record 3:07.19 in the event, to go along with a second-place effort in the 4×800-meter relay at Penn, in which the Nittany Lions combined to run 7:12.90 – the seventh-fastest time in collegiate history.
Foster will join a contingent of 15 Nittany Lions at the NCAA Championships, which are slated for June 8-11, at Drake University.