MILWAUKEE, Wis. (June 6, 2008) - Senior Shannon Buttchen and junior Holly Nearman of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams, it was announced today.

Buttchen was named to the first team and is now eligible for Academic All-America voting. Meanwhile, Nearman was selected for the second team. This is the second-straight year Milwaukee has boasted an academic all-district honoree, which is voted upon by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Junior Jenni Saarinen earned the honor last season.

Buttchen capped her Panther career at the league outdoor championships, where she earned all-league second team honors with the 4x400m relay and scored in the 800m with a fourth-place finish. Indoors, she garnered all-league honors, taking second in the 800m. She ran a time of 2:14.34, which put her fourth in school history in the event. She also repeated as league champion with the 4x400m relay.

Last month, Buttchen was honored by UWM as a recipient of the Herman Kluge Senior Athlete Award, which is given annually to one male and one female student who best live up to the student-athlete mantra of academic excellence, athletic achievement and community involvement. She was also her team's Faculty Athletic Representative's Award winner, boasting a team-best 3.952 GPA as a political science major.

Nearman has excelled this season, breaking the school record in the 5000m twice this season, including at the NCAA Regionals last month in Arkansas. She crossed the line in 16:46.88 to place eighth, while missing out on qualifying for the NCAA Championships by just one place. During the indoor season, Nearman won a league championship in the 5000m and earned all-league second-team honors as runner up in the 3000m.