HOBOKEN, N.J. (June 1, 2018) – Gina Dello Russo, Alex Kainer and Nick Zickgraf of the Stevens Institute of Technology track & field programs have been named to the 2017-18 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Track/Cross Country First-Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Part of the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, the Academic All-District Team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Click here to see the full release.

All three Ducks were first-team selections; First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® ballot, with Google Cloud Academic All-America® teams announced in June.

Dello Russo is a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Whippany, New Jersey with a 3.89 GPA. She earned All-American designations four times this year - in the indoor and outdoor 200-meter and 400-meter events – including a national-runner-up finish in the outdoor 400 last week.

She helped lead Stevens to its first-ever track & field Empire 8 title during the indoor season, and was the Athlete of the Meet at the Indoor Championships after winning four different titles (200, 400, pole vault, high jump). At the Outdoor Championship she repeated as Athlete of the Meet and won four more titles: the 100, 200, 400 and high jump.

Alex Kainer is a junior from South Brunswick, New Jersey with a 3.89 GPA in mechanical engineering. He earned the first All-American award in the over 100-year history of the Stevens men's track & field program by taking fifth in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships. His four points earned allowed the team to take 50th at the national meet.

He won two Empire 8 titles (60-meters and 200-meters) during the indoor season and two more in the outdoor season (100 and 200), while being named Empire 8 Track Athlete of the Year. He also won first place as a member of the 4x100 relay team.

Nick Zickgraf, a senior from Kenilworth, New Jersey, boasts a 3.88 GPA in mechanical engineering. He was named the Empire 8 Athlete of the Year in 2015 and won the mile at the All-Region Championships this season and qualified for indoor nationals.

In addition, Zickgraf won titles in both the mile and the 800-meter run at the Empire 8 Indoor Championships. In the mile, his time of 4:17.89 was a new meet record and fourth consecutive indoor victory in Empire 8's for that distance.

The Google Cloud Academic All-District® teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. Stevens is located in District 2 and competes with Division III institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

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