GORHAM, Maine – Four members of the University of Southern Maine women's track and field program have earned All-Academic Athlete honors from the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) following the conclusion of the 2022 indoor and outdoor regular season. Additionally, as a team, USM's women's indoor and outdoor programs were named a 2023 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team.
 
Earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete honors for the Huskies are junior Olivia Jalbert (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little), freshman Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy), sophomore Anna Reny (Gardiner, Maine/Cony) and senior Sophia Slovenski (Cape Neddick, Maine/Phillips Academy).
 
To be an All-Academic Athlete a student-athlete must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale through the most recently completed grading period and additionally meet the athletic requirement of having finished the season among the top 50 individuals as listed on the descending order lists on TFRRS, competing in the Indoor or Outdoor National Championships, or having been a member of the one the top 35 relay teams as listed on the descending order list on TFRRS.
 
Jalbert, who earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors after the 2022-23 seasons, was an All-Region honoree in the long jump and high jump for the indoor season. She also won Little East Conference titles in both events on her way to being crowned the 2023 LEC Field Athlete of the Year. Jalbert also won the conference championship in both events at the league's outdoor championships. An Exercise Science major, Jalbert has now been named an All-Academic Athlete twice in her career.
 
Rietchel qualified for the 2023 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships in the javelin after posting the fifth-best mark in the nation and the best among freshmen competitors. Reitchel amassed quite the collection of hardware during her first outdoor season including the conference javelin title, the LEC Field Rookie of the Year award, USTFCCCA All-Region honors, Division III All-New England honors and the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) javelin title. This is the first All-Academic Athlete honor for the Linguistics major.
 
Reny, a Psychology major, is also earning All-Academic Athlete honors for the second time in her career. Reny finished the season with the 16th best time in the nation for the 400-meter hurdles and earned the chance to compete at the outdoor National Championships where she placed 14th. Additionally, Reny won the LEC title in the event and was part of the conference champion 4x100 relay team and was voted the LEC Track Athlete of the Year. She also was awarded USTFCCCA All-Region and CSC Academic All-District honors following the outdoor season.
 
Slovenski, who recently was named a First Team Academic All-American by CSC for the second time in her career, is earning Academic Athlete honors for the third time. Slovenski earned three All-Region nods in 2022-23 with the awards stemming for both the indoor and outdoor pole vault and the pentathlon. This past academic year saw her win LEC All-Conference designation five times with conference titles in the pole vault at both the indoor and outdoor championships and second-place finishes in the long jump at both championship meets plus the 60-meter hurdles. Slovenski graduated from USM in May with a degree in Health Sciences and recently became the first female student-athlete in University of Southern Maine history to earn multiple Academic All-America honors and the first Husky to make the First Team twice.
 
The LEC champions for both indoor and outdoor track and field, the Huskies posted a cumulative 3.498 grade point average surpassing the requirement for 3.10 needed for All-Academic Team honors.