Valerio Named to Academic All-America 2nd Team

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins senior Christina Valerio (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) has been named to the Capital One Academic All-America Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), it was announced today. Valerio is just the second Johns Hopkins women's cross country/track athlete to earn Academic All-America honors as she joins Kathy Darling on this exclusive list. Darling grabbed first team honors in 2002-03, when she was also named the Academic All-American of the Year for Track and Cross Country.

Valerio capped a standout career for the Columbia Blue and Black, earning All-America honors in cross country, indoor track (5,000) and outdoor track (10,000) as a senior. At the NCAA Indoor Track Championship in March, she took home second place in the 5,000 meter in a school and Centennial Conference record time of 16:59.65. Valerio followed that with a seventh-place finish in the 5,000 and an 11th-place finish in the 10,000 at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championship in May. She also holds the school outdoor record in the 10,000 meter (36:01.99). Valerio won four Centennial Conference titles this season, taking the indoor title in the 3,000 & 5,000 and the outdoor titles in the 5,000 & 10,000. In cross country, she placed third at the 2010 Centennial Conference Championship and followed that with a 10th place finish at the NCAA Regional and a 33rd place finish at the NCAA Championship.

Valerio boasts a 3.66 cumulative GPA and graduated with a degree in molecular and cellular biology. She was a Dean's List student and a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection. She has worked as a research assistant in the Johns Hopkins University Genetics Lab and the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine. In addition, Valerio has worked as a clinical assistant at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and volunteered at Shepherd's Clinic, which provides quality, comprehensive health care to Baltimore's uninsured.

Valerio led Johns Hopkins to a sweep of the Centennial Conference Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track Championships in 2010-11. Hopkins has won the Centennial Conference and NCAA Mideast Region Cross Country titles in each of the last three seasons and placed seventh at the NCAA Championship in 2009 and 2010.