June 24, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – USC cross country/track and field athlete Jenny Lake was named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first team, voted by CoSIDA, for the seventh consecutive season (four with cross country and three with track and field).

Lake, who graduated from the South Carolina’s Honor College in May, earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a cumulative grade point average of 4.0. She most recently earned a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, was one of two recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship, awarded by the SEC, and was recognized as USC’s 2005 Female Scholar Athlete.

As a member of the South Carolina Honors College, Lake made the President’s List (4.00 GPA) every semester. In 2003 and 2004, she was named USC’s Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a member of the 2003-04 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team for Track & Field. She was also a recipient of the McNair Scholar Award, USC’s most prestigious academic award based on scholastic achievement, leadership and character. Lake is a member of the Pi Mu Epsilon National Honorary Mathematics Society and the Pi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

“We’re very proud of Jenny,” said USC Head Coach Curtis Frye. “Jenny has had an excellent career athletically and academically and deserves the honor of first team Academic All-American. She fits in the history of Carolina athletes who have done well. We’re proud that she continues the legacy of great student-athletes and it challenges the rest of our team to step up and carry on the tradition.”

Lake has committed to Washington University in St. Louis to pursue a PhD in mathematics. She is aspiring to become a professor at a prestigious university, such as the University of South Carolina.