Valdez Named First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI

PORTALES, N.M. — Eastern New Mexico University track and field athlete Nicole Valdez (Sr., Shot Put, Amarillo, TX/Amarillo Christian School) has been named First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI for the 2006 season. The Academic All-District Team, which featured 11 players in track and field and cross country, was chosen by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Valdez and other First Team selections from CoSIDA’s eight regions are eligible for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Softball Team. The Academic All-America Team will be announced on Wednesday, May 31.

Valdez has achieved a 3.50 cumulative grade point average at ENMU. She is majoring in Biology and is a Pre-Physical Therapy student.

In the shot put, she threw a career-best 38’2 1/4” for seventh place at the Texas Tech Wes Kittley Open on March 24, 2006. She also threw the shot 37’11 3/4” at the Angelo State University David Noble Relays on April 13 this spring. She took eighth place at the Lone Star Conference Championships on April 21-22, 2006, with a throw of 36’8 1/4”. She placed ninth at the LSC Championships in 2005 with a thorw of 35’ 3 1/2”.

Valdez was named to the LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2005 and has been nominated for the LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll again in 2006. She has qualified for the ENMU Athletic Honor Roll for six consecutive semesters from Fall 2003 through Spring 2006.

CoSIDA District VI includes colleges and universities in New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. Players nominated in the CoSIDA Academic All-America program were starters or key reserves with cumulative GPAs of 3.2 or higher (4.0 scale). Each player was at her current college or university for at least one academic year.

The College Division includes players in NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA. The Zias compete in NCAA Division II and in the Lone Star Conference.