Valparaiso seniors Jarrett Mickens (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and Steve Schubert (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) both earned spots on the Capital One Academic All-District V First Team for men’s track and field/cross country, as announced by CoSIDA Thursday morning.  With the honors, both Mickens and Schubert are eligible for consideration for Academic All-American accolades.

Mickens earns the Academic All-District honor after a stellar senior campaign in which he set three new school records.  The senior broke Valpo’s program records indoors in both the long and triple jumps, winning both events as well at the Horizon League Indoor Championships to earn Most Outstanding Field Performer honors.  Outdoors, Mickens set a new Crusader program standard in the long jump and earned podium finishes in both the long and triple jumps at the HL Outdoor Championships.  A five-time HL Male Field Athlete of the Week this year, Mickens earned a spot at the NCAA East Preliminary Round outdoors in the long jump, where he improved on his seed position by seven spots, placing 27th.

In the classroom, Mickens closed his academic career with a 3.672 cumulative GPA as a biology major.  He was named the HL Male Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January 2011 earlier this year, while also picking up three Academic All-League nods over the course of his career.  He also was named to the Dean’s List and earned Presidential academic honors during his time at Valpo, along with being named to the HL Academic Honor Roll each semester eligible.

Schubert receives Academic All-District accolades after closing a career in which he ranked among the Crusaders’ top jumpers.  Indoors in 2011, the senior ranked second on the team in the triple jump and third in the long jump, eventually placing eighth at the HL Indoor Championships in the former event.  Outdoors, Schubert ranked second on the team in both the javelin throw and the triple jump, matching his fourth-best mark in program history in the latter event at the HL Outdoor Championships.  Schubert placed fifth in the javelin and eighth in the triple jump at the league meet.

In the classroom, Schubert graduated from Valparaiso with a 3.807 cumulative GPA as a civil engineering major.  A five-time HL Academic All-League recipient, Schubert was named to the HL Academic Honor Roll each semester eligible and was  named to the Dean’s List and earned Presidential academic honors during his time at Valpo.

To be eligible for Academic All-District, student-athletes must hold at least sophomore status, own a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 and be either a starter or key reserve.  District V consists of schools in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario and Manitoba.