Sophomore Kortney Watring (Riverside, CA) and junior Richard Valenti (Palm Desert, CA) of the University of Redlands track & field teams earned ESPN The Magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District VIII Second-Team and First-Team laurels, respectively, for track & field/cross country's College Division, as announced Thursday by CoSIDA.

Watring boasts a 3.96 GPA as an English major and has also enjoyed copious amounts of success in the jumps. Following the 2008-09 academic year, she was tabbed as a Redlands Scholar-Athlete for the second time in as many years. With a first-place leap in the Triple Jump (37’ 8 ¾”) at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Multi-Duals, Watring provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. At the SCIAC Top-4 Meet, she provided the top standard in the Triple Jump as well, posting a mark of 35’ 7 ¾”. Additionally, she notched her season best in the Long Jump at the Asics/Steve Scott Invite (17’ 6”). Watring is a two-time All-SCIAC performer in both the Triple Jump and the Long Jump. This marks her inaugural selection to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII Second Team.

Valenti received a spot on the First Team as a result of coupling a 3.47 GPA as a History major with his athletic accolades. No stranger to receiving academic recognition, Valenti gained distinction as a Redlands Scholar-Athlete in 2007 and 2008. He uncorked an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the Discus Throw (157’ 5”) at the SCIAC Top-4 Meet, taking first. At the Redlands Invitational, Valenti paced the field in the Hammer Throw with a first-place heave of 154’ 3”. A mainstay among the elite throwers in NCAA Division III, he has placed second on seven different occasions this past season. This Palm Desert native is a three-time All-SCIAC honoree in the Shot Put, the Hammer Throw and the Discus Throw and also competed at the 2008 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. This marks his first-ever selection to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII First Team. As a First-Team choice, he puts himself in the running for Academic All-America.

CoSIDA’s District VIII includes institutions located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington in addition to those located in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and the Yukon. The College Division includes all non-NCAA Division I institutions in the district.

All nominees must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 and participate in 50 percent of their team’s contests to be nominated. The CoSIDA Academic All-District teams, which are presented by ESPN The Magazine, are voted on by members of CoSIDA.

For a complete list of the Academic All-District recipients for the men, please visit http://www.cosida.com/documents/2009/6/3/09mtrack-cc.pdf, and for a complete list of Academic All-District recipients for the women, please visit http://www.cosida.com/documents/2009/6/3/09wtrack-cc.pdf.