Washington Named Academic All-American of the Year, Van Klinken Earns Second Team Honors
GREENWOOD, Ind. - The awards keep coming for Sun Devil Track and Field's Turner Washington and Jorinde van Klinken. Washington and van Klinken earned respective first- and second-team spots on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Track and Field/ Cross Country teams after having standout years on the field and in the classroom. Washington also picked up the prestigious honor of the men's CoSIDA Academic All-America Track and Field/ Cross Country Team Member of the Year, becoming ASU's first honoree since the award's creation during the 2001-02 season. The two join Ilze Hattingh (women's tennis) and Anthony Valencia (wrestling) as Arizona State's four Academic All-Americans for 2020-21.
Did you know several current Sun Devil athletes competing for ASU are alumni? Check out this article interviewing four athletes who already have completed their degrees! ??https://t.co/e4EUD4dfmt
— ASU Alumni (@ASU_Alumni) December 4, 2021
Washington graduated in December 2020 with his bachelor's in biological sciences, earning a 4.0 GPA. He then went on to have one of the best seasons in ASU history, breaking the NCAA indoor shot put record before collecting the indoor and outdoor NCAA shot put crowns and ending the 2021 season with the NCAA discus title as well. That makes him just the third man in NCAA history to win all three titles in one season. Washington broke the program discus record four times this year, earned USTFCCCA 2021 Indoor Male Field Athlete of the Year,
Outdoor West Region Male Field Athlete of the Year, and Indoor & Outdoor Scholar Athlete of the Year honors, and is a finalist for The Bowerman - the highest honor for collegiate track and field student-athletes.
Van Klinken continued ASU's long history of standout women throwers in recent years, taking the world lead - and the program record - in the discus before claiming the NCAA discus title and representing her country, the Netherlands, in Tokyo 2020 - all in her first semester with ASU. The Dutchwomen earned All-American status three times in 2021 after taking bronze in the indoor shot, 12th in the outdoor shot, and winning gold in the discus. She picked up the Pac-12 discus title at the conference championship meet, was named the Pac-12 Women's Field Athlete of the Year, and earned the USTFCCCA Outdoor West Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year award. A grad student studying global management, van Klinken holds a 3.92 GPA.
SUN DEVIL CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA TEAM MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Turner Washington, Track and Field (2021)
Mike Leake, Baseball (2009)
April Kubishta, Track & Field (2008)
Casey Myers, Baseball (2000)
Gea Johnson, Track and Field (1990)