For the third time in her career, University of Rochester women's track & field senior Megan Bell was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Women's Track & Field Academic All-America Team, netting First-Team honors for the second-consecutive year, as announced by CSC on Tuesday.
 
A 10-time United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-American, Bell graduates as an 18-time USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region selection and a 17-time All-Liberty League honoree, in addition to her 10 First-Team All-America honors and two National Championships in the indoor 4x400-meter relay.
 
"We are so proud of Megan for being named to the Academic All-America team for the third year in a row!" Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Sam Albert said, "She has absolutely thrived and excelled during her time at Rochester, both on the track and in the classroom, and graduates as one of the most decorated athletes in the history of our program. Beyond that, Megan has been a tremendous friend and role model to her teammates and has truly set the standard for what it means to be a scholar-athlete at Rochester."
 
This season, Bell, a team captain, added four USTFCCCA First-Team All-America, seven All-Region and seven All-Liberty League accolades to her tally, placing second outdoors and third indoors in the 800 meters at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships, as well as sixth indoors and eighth outdoors in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
Bell was also named the Liberty League Women's Track Performer of the Meet at both the indoor and outdoor championships and ranked in the top 15 in eight events on the NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Performance Lists. The senior is a 13-time Liberty League Track Performer of the Week and a one-time USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week, and graduates holding eight school records, four conference records, four conference championship records and two All-Atlantic Region meet records.
 
Additionally, Bell was a member of UR's indoor 4x400-meter relay that holds the Division III national record (3:44.84), set back at the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, and ranks in the top 15 on the All-Time DIII Top-25 Individual Event Rankings in six events, having set top-10 marks in both the indoor and outdoor 800 meters this year.
 
Off the track, Bell, a biomedical engineering major, is a three-time Liberty League All-Academic selection, a three-time CSC All-Academic selection and a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree. Bell was named one of UR's Lysle 'Spike' Garnish Scholar-Athletes this past fall and received the department's Merle Spurrier Award this year, awarded to the top female senior athlete, and is UR's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
The Wynantskill, NY native was also elected Phi Beta Kappa, served as President of Tau Beta Phi, was a member of Alpha Eta Mu Beta, and was previously selected as one of UR's Provost Circle Scholars.
 
Bell notches the 18th Academic All-America honor in women's track & field program history, and is the second three-time recipient in program history, along with Kylee Bartlett '19, and just the fourth in school history.
 
The 2024-25 CSC Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and rank in the Top 50 in the region in a single, individual event on the TFRRS performance lists, or have had a Top-50 individual performance at a 2024 NCAA Cross Country Regional.
 
The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men's and women's track & field and cross country honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.