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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 track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).