WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University senior Paul Norton of Amherst, Mass., and Grayce Selig of Narberth, Pa., have been named as Capital One Academic All-District I selections in cross country and track and field, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA).
Norton was a first-team selection and will now proceed on to the national ballot. A team captain in both track and cross country, he graduated summa cum laude with highest honors with degrees in music and economics. Norton, who earned Brandeis's Harry, Joseph and Ida Stein Award as the outstanding senior male athlete, led the cross country team to three consecutive berths in the NCAA championships, earning All-America honors as a junior when he finished seventh in the field of 276 runners. In 2011, Norton guided the Judges to a 16th-place finish, their highest since 1998. He was a two-time UAA Champion during the indoor track and field season, winning the 3,000-meters as a junior – when he earned Most Outstanding Performer at the UAA championship meet - and in 5,000 as a senior. Overall, Norton is a seven-time All-UAA performer overall and four-time All-New England Division III and four-time All-New England All-Division performer.
Norton was named to the Academic All-UAA team nine times, Brandeis's Dean's List eight times and to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches (UTSFCCCA) All-Academic team seven times in his career. He earned Brandeis's David M. Greene and Florence and Charles H. Milender prizes for Music, and has had summer positions as a research intern for health care at the Massachusetts State House in 2010 and the KIMbia foundation and Kenya Scholar Athlete project in Kenya in 2009.
Selig was a second-team All-District 1 selection. Previously named Brandeis's Max I. Silber Award winner as the outstanding senior female athlete, she is a four-time All-American in track and field. She was the runner-up in the mile run at the 2011 NCAA Division III indoor track and field Championships, was a member of the third-place distance medley relay team indoors in 2010, and placed fourth in the 1,500-meter run at the 2010 NCAA outdoor championships and fifth in that event last month at the 2011 NCAA outdoor championships. Selig also qualified for the NCAA cross country championships as a junior in 2009. She is a school-record holder at three distances (1,500 meters, mile and 3,000 meters) and as part of the 3,200-meter relay team. Selig is a three-time UAA champion and two-time New England champion.
A nine-time Academic All-UAA selection and seven time Dean's List student, Selig graduated with a 3.719 grade-point average in neuroscience. She worked at Brandeis's neuroscience lab in 2010 and will return to Brandeis for graduate work in the fall.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
Norton is a 2007 graduate of Amherst Regional High School. He is the son of David and Claire Norton, Amherst, Mass.
Selig is a 2007 graduate of Springside School. She is the daughter of William and Deborah Selig, Narberth, Pa.