June 25, 2015
San Jose, Calif. --- San José State women's cross country and track student-athlete Rebecca Garcia is a Capital One Academic All-America® Division I third-team honoree.
The 2015 Capital One Academic All-America Women's Track & Field/Cross Country, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members, recognize the country's top student-athletes for their combined performances both athletically and in the classroom.
"I was always motivated to give equal time to being both a student and an athlete," Garcia said. "It was a challenge, but my mom and dad were always there to call. They always pushed us to succeed academically."
Rebecca competed alongside her twin sister Breanna in cross country and track at San José State.
"It was great competition having my sister there with me," said Garcia. "We would always be waiting for that test to come back and see what each other got. We were very competitive and it helped me."
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution, have played in at least 50 percent of his/her team's games and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Garcia, of Anaheim, Calif., is the first San José State University track and field and cross country student-athlete of either gender to earn Academic All-America honors. She is one of 45 NCAA Division I All-Americans and one of 27 with a cumulative GPA above a 3.90.
The Academic All-America honor is an exclamation point on Garcia's Spartan career. She is a two-time San José State President's Scholar, an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar and a five-time academic all-conference honoree.
To go along with her outstanding accomplishments in the classroom, Garcia is the school record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run. She set both records at this year's Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championship, her last meet as a Spartan.
Rebecca's next endeavor begins this coming August when she will begin law school at UC Irvine.