Pocatello High School graduate and College of Idaho student-athlete Molly Vitale-Sullivan was named to the Google Cloud NAIA Track and Field Academic All-America team, presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Vitale-Sullivan, a junior who competes on C of I’s cross country and track and field teams, earned second-team honors and is the fifth C of I women’s track athlete to earn the award – joining Hillary Holt (2013, 2014), Hannah Lentz (2015), Ruth Lewinski (2016) and Claire Otero (2018).

To be honored, a student-athlete must be nominated by their school’s sports information director. The athlete must at least be a sophomore in academic standing, maintaining a minimum 3.30 cumulative GPA and be a starter or key contributor to the team. Athletes must first be selected to one of four 10-athlete All-District teams (comprised of all NAIA schools in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas) – with the 40 finalists comprising the Academic All-America ballot.

Vitale-Sullivan missed the majority of the cross country season due to injury, but rebounded in time for track season and earned her seventh and eighth all-time All-America honors. She finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships and was fourth in the 10,000 at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Vitale-Sullivan also won the Cascade Collegiate Conference outdoor title in the 10,000 meters.