MORROW, Ga. – Clayton State Athletics has made history with three selections on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Tuesday, May 29. It is the most the Lakers have ever had selected to one team at any one time.
 
Named to this year's team are junior Carla Catala Martin (Barcelona, Spain) with a 3.86 GPA, Joy Diaz (Riverdale, Ga.) with a perfect 4.0 and sophomore Nia Elmore (Hinesville, Ga.) with a sterling 3.93 GPA. It is Diaz's second straight year being selected while Catala Martin and Elmore earned the recognition in their first year of eligibility.
 
Those selections mark the 14^th time in the last seven seasons, and 19^th time overall, that Clayton State Athletics has had at least one individual selected to what is now known as the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team. Of those 19 selections, an impressive 11 have come since 2014-15 and includes all three multi-time honorees and all three Academic All-America's.
 
Diaz becomes the third individual to be recognized twice, joining Maia Kuhnen (Cross Country/Track & Field) in 2014-15 and 2015-16 and Maria Marti Bartis (Women's Soccer) in 2015-16 and 2016-17. The latter is the only student-athlete in Laker history to earn Academic All-America honors more than once, collecting First-Team recognition in both of her seasons.
 
Catala Martin anchored Clayton State women's cross country, leading the team in all six meets and finishing 2-of-95 at the Cougar Cross Country Invitational (9/23) and 3-of-38 at the Jaguar Cross Country Invitational (9/9). She also placed 8-of-85 at the Peach Belt Conference Championships to earn All-PBC honors.
 
On top of that she was 41-of-159 at the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Meet (11/4) and set a personal best of 18:42.46 in the 5k at Columbus. Academically she was named a United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Individual and helped the Lakers to a seventh straight USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honor. She also earned All-PBC Academic Team recognition in both track & field and cross country.
 
Diaz returns to the Academic All-District Team with just a cross country season under her belt in 2017-18 as she completed her eligibility and graduated this past December. In that one season she earned the PBC Elite 15 Award, becoming the first Clayton State student-athlete in any sport to do so.
 
She was also named an All-USTFCCCA Academic Individual and was part of the Laker's team honor in that regard. Additionally, Diaz finished her career as a three-time All-PBC Academic Team choice (2 XC, 1 Track) and was named the Dottie H. Bumbalough and Pat Keane Academic Award winner for a second straight season. The latter is the highest academic award presented by Clayton State Athletics.
 
Competing in all six meets, she posted a personal best of 19:51.80 in the 5k at the Peach Belt Conference Championships (10/21) and 6k best of 24:41.90 at the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Meet (11/4).
 
In her first year of eligibility for Academic All-District honors, Elmore excelled both in the classroom and on the track. Over the course of 11 meets (indoor and outdoor) she broke a whopping 12 team records, most of which were at least a decade old. For her career she has set 14 program marks.
 
Elmore has broken the outdoor 4x100-meter relay and indoor 60-meter records five times each and also reset the outdoor 100-meter mark and indoor and outdoor 200-meter records. During the outdoor season she finished third in the 200-meters at the PBC Championships (4/21), earning All-PBC Third-Team honors and also surpassed a decade old team record.
 
Individually she set personal bests for indoor in the 55-, 60- and 200-meters and 4x400-meter relay while resetting her marks for outdoor in the 100 and 200-meters and the 4x100-meter relay.
 
With Diaz's selection, it is also the third straight year that the winner of the Bumbalough/Keane Award came from a member of the cross country or track & field program and was selected as Academic All-District. Diaz accomplished that feat last season and was preceded in that regard by Darina Drozdova in 2015-16.
 
As a program, Clayton State's three selections tie Wingate for the most on this year's District 3 squad and are among 93 honorees nationally. Catala Martin, Diaz and Elmore are the only individuals from full PBC members to be selected this year while associate member Embry-Riddle placed three on the District 5 Team. Additionally, Diaz is one of just 24 individuals with a perfect 4.0 to be named to any district team.     
 
The three total selections tie for the second most in a single season, equaling the mark set last season and trailing the four achieved in 2015-16. In terms of selections by program, the women's cross country/track & field programs have produced eight selections, good for the most in school history.
 
"It is great news we had three make the CoSIDA All-District Team!" said head cross country and track & field coach Mike Mead. "All three represented well on the competitive and academic venues."
 
Catala Martin, Diaz and Elmore are now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors which will be announced on Wednesday, June 20.
 
ABOUT THE COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA PROGRAM
The 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
 
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
 
2018 Google Cloud Academic Women's Cross Country/Track & Field All-District Teams (District 3)

Name		School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Makenzi Alley		Tusculum	Jr.	3.92	Biology
Carla Catala  Martin		Clayton State	Jr.	3.86	Management
Joy Diaz		Clayton State	Sr.	4.00	Theatre
Nia  Elmore		Clayton State	So.	3.93	Psychology & Human Services
Tori Gaul		Carson-Newman	Sr.	3.93	Biology/Health Professions
Valerie Griesche		Wingate	Sr.	4.00	Biology
Leah Hanle		Mount Olive	So.	3.68	Psychology
Amy Jackson		Wingate	Sr.	3.89	Exercise Science
Nicole McMillen		Tusculum	Jr.	3.91	Business Management
Lucie Noall		Queens (N.C.)	Jr.	3.94	Biology
Juliet Salgueiro		Wingate	Sr.	3.75	Management
Rebekah White		Carson-Newman	Jr.	4.00	Exercise Science
Hannah Wolkenhauer		Queens (N.C.)	Jr.	3.81	Nursing

 
Clayton State History of Academic All-District Selections (19 Selections/16 Individuals)
2017-18 – Carla  Catala Martin (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2017-18 – Joy  Diaz (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2017-18 – Nia  Elmore (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2016-17 – Joy  Diaz (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2016-17 – Jaumonee Byrd (Men's Basketball)
2016-17 – Maria Marti Bartis (Women's Soccer)%
2015-16 – Darina Drozdova (At-Large – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2015-16 – Maia Kuhnen (At-Large – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2015-16 – Maria Marti Bartis (Women's Soccer)%
2015-16 - Aleksi Tuominen (Men's Soccer)
2014-15 – Maia Kuhnen (At-Large – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2012-13 - Ivana Krommelova (At-Large - Women's Tennis)
2011-12 – Robert Spezzacatena (At-Large – Men's Cross Country/Track & Field)*
2011-12 - Russell Lawless (At-Large – Men's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2007-08 – Olaitan Yusuf (Women's Soccer)
2004-05 - Steven Sanders (At-Large - Men's Golf)
2004-05 - Nkiru Okosieme (Women's Soccer)
2001-02 – Joni Guffey (At-Large – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
1998-99 - Gina Papa (Women's Soccer)
%First-Team Academic All-American (only individual in program history)
*Third-Team Academic All-American (first one in program history)