Over the course of spring break, the Col­gate men’s and women’s track teams enjoyed a prolonged break from official competition in the brief interim between the indoor and out­door seasons. That said, both Raider squads brought home great news with the release of the Patriot League All-Academic teams.

On the men’s side, senior star Jonathan Knowlton was named one of the ten members of the squad. Knowlton, a Molecular Biology major, excelled just as much off the track as he did this season, and capped off an extremely well-rounded career. Army, Bucknell and La­fayette tied for the lead in representatives on the team, with two apiece. Cody Rome of Navy was named the 2011 Scholar Athlete of the year. Just a few weeks ago, Knowlton fin­ished off a strong career at the Patriot League Championships two weeks ago, when he was a part of the second team All-Patriot League team in the 4×800 meter relay.

On the women’s side, junior prodigy Elise DeRoo completed another dominating, well-rounded season after being named the 2011 Patriot League Women’s Scholar Athlete of the season. DeRoo was a member of the team last year in the cross-country season as well as both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. DeRoo has now been named to the All-Academic team in every season that she has been eligible to be nominated for the award. Bucknell had three athletes named to the squad, while Navy finished close behind with two runners on the team. DeRoo set a number of personal bests this season, and was also a member of a DMR team that set a new Patriot League record in the event. DeRoo has been a model scholar-athlete for Colgate in her time here thus far and will look to continue that trend heading into the spring outdoor season.

Both Raider squads will open the spring season on Saturday, March 26. The men’s team will travel to Annapolis, Maryland for a meet against the Navy Midshipmen. Some members of the women’s team will be pack­ing up for a bit longer of a road trip, as they will head out to Stanford, California for the Stanford Invite.