LA MIRADA, Calif. --- On Tuesday morning 20 track & field student-athletes from across America earned the distinction as 2015-16 CoSIDA College Division Academic Americans. Three of those 20 studied and competed at Biola University as Lyndee Dawson, Nicole Falkenstein and Anika Gasner earned recognition.
 
That trio earned a combined 10 NAIA All-American awards in 2015-16 and won two national championships. This award honors their hard work inside the classroom as it recognizes students across the US with both outstanding academic and athletic achievement.
 
Falkenstein and Gasner are both graduated seniors who finished their last years at Biola with grade point averages over 3.85 in very challenging majors. Falkenstein was a kinesiology major and Gasner was a communication disorders major.
 
Dawson wins the award with one more year left to win again. The two-time NAIA Champ is a junior kinesiology major. She was the breakout star at this year's NAIA Indoor Track and Field championships by winning the 3,000m steeplechase. She added a cross country All-American honor, national runner-up finish in the steeple at outdoor and a championship leg in the Eagles' 4x800m relay at outdoor nationals.
 
The trio becomes Biola's first Academic All-Americans of the 2015-16 school year, and they bring the institution's total up to 40 all time. These three were the only Golden State Athletic Conference student-athletes to make the Academic All-American list in cross country/track & field.
 
The CoSIDA Academic All-Americans are voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America association. Honorees must be a sophomore, junior or senior, have a cumulative grade point average above 3.30 and be a key contributor to their team's success.