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BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech’s Frances Dowd (Fairfax, Va.) and Alexander Ziegler (Dischingen, Germany) have been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District Track & Field/Cross Country teams announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday. The Capital One Academic All-District teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

As Academic All-District honorees, Dowd and Ziegler now advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first, second and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

The Academic All-District teams include student-athletes that are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. Ten student-athletes were selected from District III in men’s and women’s divisions in the track & field/cross country category. District III encompasses Division I institutions from the states of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

This is the second consecutive year Dowd has garnered Academic All-District honors. A junior majoring in environmental policy and planning, Dowd earned second team All-America honors during the indoor track season with her 15th place finish in the 800 meters (2:09.38) at the NCAA Indoor Championship. Dowd was also honored with the NCAA Elite 89 Award at the indoor national championship, an honor presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA championships.

Also during the indoor season, she earned All-ACC honors with a third place finish in the 800 meters at the ACC Championship (2:10.41) and set school records in the 600 meters (1:30.99) and 800 meters (2:05.18), while being named Academic All-ACC.

This outdoor season, Dowd ran the third leg on the school record setting 4x800 meter relay at the Colonial Relays (8:47.76). In cross country, she posted a career best 5k time of 18:03.7 at the Charlotte Invitational and finished 32nd, while clocking a personal best 6k of 22:48.0 at the ACC Championships.

Ziegler, a management major, earned Academic All-District honors for the first time. The defending national champion in the hammer throw, Ziegler will compete in the hammer at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m. CDT.

This outdoor season, Ziegler won his first ACC title in the hammer throw with a mark of 229-11 (70.09m), helping the Hokie men capture their first ACC Outdoor Championship. Last weekend, he placed second at the NCAA East Preliminary Round (230-1, 70.13m) to earn his spot at nationals. He also won the hammer at Clemson’s Bob Pollock Invite with a season best mark of 240-1 (73.17m) and was runner-up at the Florida Relays and at Clemson’s Tiger Qualifier.

During the indoor season, Ziegler earned first team All-America honors with a third place finish in the weight throw (70-10, 21.59m) at the NCAA Championship. He finished runner-up in the weight throw at the ACC Championship (69-11.5, 21.32m), helping the Hokies sweep the event for the second year in a row. He was also named Academic All-ACC for the third time in indoor track & field. For his career, Ziegler is a five-time All-American and three-time ACC Champion.

To be nominated for Academic All-District, student-athletes are required to have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale) in both undergraduate and graduate work, reached sophomore athletic and academic standing, and completed at least one academic year at their institution.

For updates on Virginia Tech cross country, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).