FRISCO, Texas -- Early Tuesday morning, the Southland Conference officially announced the league's 2021 All-Academic track & field selections, tabbing a pair of Nicholls State University student-athletes -- junior Chelsea Harrington along with sophomore Elsa Rijpstra -- to the 45-member women's team.

The Southland Conference Track & Field All-Academic Teams are selected by a 50-percent rule. Of the total number of nominees, half are named all-academic selections. Honorees are nominated and voted upon by head coaches, sports information directors and academic staff members from each university.

Harrington, who earned one of the 18 automatic selections on the women's squad due to her indoor track & field title in the long jump, impressed behind consistent meet-to-meet improvement during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, literally outdoing her own previous mark across six consecutive competitions over a four-month span. For the semester, the Slidell native captured five podium finishes, a gold medal at the SLC Indoor Championships, fifth overall at the league outdoor championships and program records for the women's long jump in both indoor and outdoor competition, all while maintaining a solid 3.13 GPA in psychology.

Meanwhile, Rijpstra fought her way onto her second consecutive SLC All-Academic squad less than three months removed from locking down a spot on the conference's cross country edition, utilizing her perfect 4.0 GPA in allied health sciences and a strong finish at the SLC Outdoor Championships to clinch a position with track & field as well. For the season, the Dutch import set new personal records in the 800m, 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m, and even managed to pick up a bronze medal for the 10k in the program's lone podium finish at the SLC Outdoor Championships.

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