Splichal first Barr second team academic all-district

FAYETTEVILLE – Senior Penny Splichal and sophomore Dacia Barr of the University of Arkansas Lady Razorback track team were named first and second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic all-District, respectively on Thursday.

The awards are the first ESPN academic awards for the Lady Razorback pair and continue a streak of 10 straight years in which an Arkansas track runner has been named all-District.

“These are well deserved awards,” Arkansas head coach Lance Harter said. “It is a wonderful capstone to Penny’s career and for Dacia this is just the beginning. Both these young ladies represent the type of student-athlete that we want at Arkansas, good on the track and in the classroom.”

Splichal ended her four-plus year career as a Lady Razorback during the indoor season with a pair of Southeastern Conference individual championships in February, and then ran at the NCAA meet in both the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs. Overall she won three SEC titles, was named first-team all-SEC four times and was a regular on the Lady Razorback’s academic honor rolls.

Barr’s athletic prowess began to take shape during her true freshman year and since that time has blossomed. She earned her first all-America honor as a member of Arkansas’ distance medley relay in 2005 and earned a pair of SEC runner-up accolades during the 2006 season. Academically, she was a part of the SEC Academic honor roll and a member of the United States Track Coaches Association’s all-Academic team.

Splichal’s first-team honor places her on the national ballot for academic all-America honors to be voted on by the committee members of the college sports information director’s academic all-America committee.

The Lady Razorbacks conclude their 2006 season at the NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif. For more information about Lady Razorback track or about Arkansas women’s athletics, please go to www.ladybacks.com.