Thune Earns Three of Atlantic Sun's Biggest Honors

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- On the heels of advancing to the national ballot for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America award, Belmont women's cross country and track runner Brittany Thune (Sioux Falls, S.D.) earned three of the Atlantic Sun's most prestigious honors in an awards ceremony last night -- Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Postgraduate Scholarship and the league's nod for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Thune becomes the first Bruin female student-athlete to garner the Scholar Athlete of the Year award since Candice Mitchell at the conclusion of the 2001-02 academic year. Her selection also marks the fourth-consecutive year a BU student-athlete has been named the Atlantic Sun Male or Female Scholar Athlete of the Year. Since Belmont joined the A-Sun in 2001, Thune brings the university's tally to eight of student-athletes who have earned the distinction.

Winners of the Atlantic Sun Postgraduate Scholarship receive $3,000 toward their graduate studies. Recipients are voted on by all of the league's Faculty Athletic Representatives. The Postgraduate Scholarship program, which was established in 2007, was created to reward one male and one female student-athlete interested in pursuing graduate studies. Thune, who plans to attend law school in the fall, becomes the third Belmont student-athlete to receive the scholarship.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. A maximum of two student-athletes are nominated by each athletic conference office each year. In the past three years, 383 student-athletes were nominated by their conference or independent institutions, representing multiple ethnicities and all NCAA-sponsored sports within Divisions I, II and III; and since the program inception in 1991, 1,277 women have been recognized as state or conference honorees.

Earning the A-Sun Runner of the Year nod for second-consecutive year, Thune came away with the individual title last fall with a time of 17:17, marking the conference's fastest time since 2005 and the third-best league finish ever. She received All-Conference honors in each of her four seasons, including Freshman of the Year in 2006, and helped lead the Bruins to dominate the league winning three consecutive team championships (2006-2008). A three-time Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week, Thune was also a two-time NCAA cross country regional qualifier and a Division I South Region USTFCCC All-Region selection.

Thune graduated from Belmont last month with an overall GPA of 3.95 with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Political Science. She garnered A-Sun All-Academic honors eight times in her stellar career, as well as receiving the Presidential Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Graduating Senior Academic Achievement awards from the University. Thune also earned First Team Academic All-District honors from CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine this year, becoming only the fifth Belmont women's cross country and track runner to be selected in program history.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.