(Portions of this release courtesy of MIT Athletic Communications)

AUSTIN, Texas- The 2024-2025 Academic All-America Women's Track & Field/Cross Country teams, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), were announced in July, with four from the NEWMAC garnering the accolade, all from NCAA Cross Country and Track & Field Champions, MIT. 

Graduate student Gillian Roeder (Delmar, N.Y.) and junior Hailey Surace (Snohomish, Wash.) each earned a spot on the first team, while senior Alexis Boykin (Clayton, Ohio) was named to the second team and junior Kate Sanderson (West Hartford, Conn.) earned a spot on the third team. The honor is the first for Surace, Boykin and Sanderson, while Roeder was also a member of the Academic All-America Second Team in 2023. Both Roeder and Surace were two of the 18 Division III honorees to earn a perfect GPA.

Roeder, a mechanical engineering major, was a NEWMAC All-Conference and USTFCCCA All-Region honoree during cross country season, as MIT captured its first NCAA title. She was an All-Conference, All-Region, and All-American performer on the outdoor track, earning All-American accolades in the 1500m and the 5000m. Roeder is currently pursuing a master's in mechanical engineering and has completed internships with Alegre Design and WB Engineers+Consultants. She was an undergraduate researcher in the MIT Ideation Laboratory as well as an apprentice in the Pappalardo Laboratory. She received both the Louis N. Tuomala Award from the MIT Mechanical Engineering Department as well as the Ascher H. Shapiro (1938) Departmental Fellowship.

Surace, a business management major, claimed NEWMAC All-Conference, USTFCCCA All-Region, and All-America Second Team honors during the outdoor season. On campus, Surace is a member of the MIT Undergraduate Association Education Committee and participated in the Active Community Engagement Freshman Pre-Orientation Program through the MIT PKG Center. During the 2024-2025 season, she completed an internship with the non-profit Ek Kadam Aur, and she has previously held internships with Mercer and Albiero Energy.

Boykin, a chemistry and biology major, adds Academic All-America honors to a record-breaking career that included 16 All-American honors and eight national championships. The NCAA Division III national record holder in the shot put, Boykin was the outdoor national champion in the shot put, claiming multiple All-Region and national honors, including outdoor field athlete of the year. An undergraduate researcher in MIT's Pentelute Lab, Boykin received an MIT Chemistry Research Award in 2025 while serving as a resident peer mentor in Baker House.

Sanderson, a biological engineering major, was the 2024 NEWMAC Cross Country Athlete of the Year before going on to earn All-Region honors in the fall as MIT captured the national title. On the outdoor track, Sanderson was a First Team All-American in the 10,000 m and a Second Team All-American in the 5,000 m as MIT took home the outdoor title. Off the track, Sanderson is an undergraduate researcher with the Xiao Wang Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She was also a visiting scholar at CalTech and completed a summer internship at Instituto Quimico de Sarria in Barcelona.
 
About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.