AUSTIN, Texas— Carson-Newman pole vaulter Tori Gaul (Salisbury, N.C.) has been named a CoSIDA first team Academic All-District selection for her efforts on the playing field and in the classroom following the 2016 track and field regular season.  

Gaul secured her fourth-consecutive straight-A semester after the sophomore concluded the 2016 spring semester with another 4.0 GPA while studying Biology and health professions at Carson-Newman.

The Salisbury, N.C. native has been an Eagle scholar for each of her four semesters—an award given to Carson-Newman student athletes who excel with a GPA above 3.0-- while also being appointed to the Dean's List on four separate occasions.

The accolade comes a year after former Eagles Randall Freeman and Ana Bauder were given the honor following the 2015 season for the second-consecutive season.

Gaul is currently competing at the 2016 NCAA Division II outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bradenton, Fla. along with fellow teammates Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.), Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in the women's pole vault.

The field athlete's high mark on the outdoor season came at the High Point Vertklasse Meeting on April 1 where Gaul set a national qualifying mark of 3.81 meters in the event. Gaul also notched her career-best during the indoor season at the UCS Invitational on Feb. 20^th after recording a mark of 3.90 meters.

An All-Southeast Region selection for both the indoor and outdoor slates, Gaul competed at the 2016 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Pittsburg, K.S. from March 10-12.   

The sophomore set and extended both the indoor and outdoor Carson-Newman program records in the women's pole vault numerous times throughout both seasons and was a two-time region champion while also claiming the South Atlantic Conference title in the event as well.

Following the CoSIDA Academic All-District honor, Gaul is now eligible for the CoSIDA Academic All-American team.  

Keep up with Gaul and the rest of the Carson-Newman track and field athletes competing at the 2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships at cneagles.com and on twitter at @CNatletics.  

-CN-