VERMILLION, S.D. - South Dakota track and field athletes Emma Ladwig and Jeff Mettler have been named to the Capital One Academic All-District Track and Field/Cross Country Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) was announced on Thursday. Ladwig, a senior, earned her third all-district honor of her career, while Mettler, a sophomore, earned his first honor.

South Dakota is part of District 6 in the CoSIDA voting.

Ladwig (Gayville, S.D.) capped off an outstanding Coyote career with a second-straight trip to the NCAA West Preliminaries last week. Earlier this month, Ladwig won her 10th individual conference title of her career when she won the 800-meter run at the Summit League Championships in Fargo, N.D. She was also part of the 4x100 relay that won the conference title and finished the track season with eight individual event wins. Ladwig holds six individual school records and was the national indoor and outdoor champion in the 800-meter run in 2008. She graduated from South Dakota with a degree in psychology with a 3.98 grade point average (GPA).

Mettler (Eureka, S.D.) enjoyed a breakout season, qualifying for the NCAA West Preliiminaries in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Mettler won the steeplechase title at the Summit League Outdoor Championships in May with a time of 9:01.85, just short of the 8:58.95 school-record time he ran at the Sioux City Relays in April. Mettler finished with three event wins in track and field. Mettler also had an outstanding cross country season, winning two races and finishing in the top eight in all five events. Mettler earned All-Summit League honors with his fifth-place finish at the Summit League meet (25:15). Mettler, a biology major, has a perfect 4.0 GPA. Ladwig and Mettler both advanced to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first, second and third team honorees will be selected this month.