Fort Hays State track and field senior Darcie Schmitz was named a Capital One Academic All-American First Team selection, as voted by members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), for the second consecutive year on Wednesday, June 23. Schmitz is the only repeat selection on the Women's Track and Field/Cross Country College Division First Team. The Baileyville, Kan., native finished her career at FHSU as a seven-time All-American and two-time Academic All-American.

Schmitz was a first team selection last year on the heels of winning the indoor individual national title in the long jump and finishing second in the triple jump. This year, she finished eighth in the indoor triple jump, sixth in the outdoor long jump, and eighth in the outdoor triple jump. She also earned a pair of top-eight performances in 2009 for the outdoor season in the long jump and triple jump.

Schmitz transferred to FHSU from Cloud County (Kan.) Community College prior to the 2008-09 school year, where she also was a performance All-American and junior college Academic All-American. She finished college with a cumulative GPA of 3.84.

Schmitz is the 34th CoSIDA Academic All-American selection all-time at Fort Hays State and just the seventh repeat selection in school history. She joins Paul Nelson (football, '85 & '86), Stan Miller (baseball, '86 & '87), Marlys Gwaltney (volleyball, '89 & '90), Donna Weninger (track and field, '92 & '93), Richard Humphreys (baseball, '93 & '94), and Jamie Heiman (women's basketball, '02 & '03) as a repeat performer. Schmitz joins Nelson, Weninger, and Heiman as the only repeat first team selections in school history. No FHSU athlete has ever been a three-time selection.