(L-R): CUSA All-Academic Team members Jessica Palisca, Katrina Schlenker, Allie Zealand and Ethan Pedersen
4 Flames Make CUSA XC All-Academic Teams
12/2/2025 1:07:00 PM | Cross Country
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Four of Liberty's cross country all-conference performers have been recognized for their work inside the classroom. Jessica Palisca, Katrina Schlenker, Allie Zealand and Ethan Pedersen were voted to the 2025 CUSA All-Academic Teams, as announced on Tuesday.
Palisca, Schlenker and Zealand all placed inside the top five at the CUSA Cross Country Championships, helping the Lady Flames successfully defend their conference title. This marks the first time in conference history that one squad has put three women's runners on the seven-member CUSA All-Academic Team.
A senior from Salem, Va., Palisca owns a 4.0 GPA in interdisciplinary studies. She saved her best cross country season for last, recording career-best finishes at the CUSA meet (fourth place) and NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships (56th). Palisca's 16:52.9 effort at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational made her the sixth Lady Flame ever to break 17:00 for a cross country 5K. Her 20:31.0 clocking at the CUSA Championships ranks No. 6 in program history for the 6K distance.
Liberty's lone returnee from the 2024 CUSA All-Academic Team, Schlenker is a senior from Batavia, Ill., with a 3.93 GPA in aeronautics. She earned first team All-CUSA honors with a fifth-place finish, becoming the first Lady Flame to earn three All-CUSA medals in women's cross country. Schlenker then closed out her collegiate career with a personal-best 46th-place effort at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships. Her 20:34.9 6K from the CUSA meet sits No. 8 on Liberty's all-time list.
A native of Forest, Va., with a 3.79 GPA in civil engineering, Zealand was the only sophomore female voted to the CUSA All-Academic Team on Tuesday. She put an exclamation point on an outstanding season by finishing 21st at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships to become an All-American for the first time. Zealand notched top-five finishes at six consecutive meets to begin the year, headlined by a CUSA individual victory and a fifth-place all-region showing at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships. Zealand rewrote the Liberty women's cross country record books, finishing with the top 5K (15:54.7) and 6K (19:06.8) times in program history.
A Redmond, Wash., native with a 3.95 GPA in biomedical sciences, Pedersen enjoyed a breakthrough junior campaign. He finished a career-best 11th at the CUSA Championships for second team all-conference honors and placed 83rd in his NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships debut. Pedersen became the 13th Flame ever to dip under 24 minutes for a cross country 8K with his personal-best 23:43.6 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
Palisca, Schlenker and Zealand all placed inside the top five at the CUSA Cross Country Championships, helping the Lady Flames successfully defend their conference title. This marks the first time in conference history that one squad has put three women's runners on the seven-member CUSA All-Academic Team.
A senior from Salem, Va., Palisca owns a 4.0 GPA in interdisciplinary studies. She saved her best cross country season for last, recording career-best finishes at the CUSA meet (fourth place) and NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships (56th). Palisca's 16:52.9 effort at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational made her the sixth Lady Flame ever to break 17:00 for a cross country 5K. Her 20:31.0 clocking at the CUSA Championships ranks No. 6 in program history for the 6K distance.
Liberty's lone returnee from the 2024 CUSA All-Academic Team, Schlenker is a senior from Batavia, Ill., with a 3.93 GPA in aeronautics. She earned first team All-CUSA honors with a fifth-place finish, becoming the first Lady Flame to earn three All-CUSA medals in women's cross country. Schlenker then closed out her collegiate career with a personal-best 46th-place effort at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships. Her 20:34.9 6K from the CUSA meet sits No. 8 on Liberty's all-time list.
A native of Forest, Va., with a 3.79 GPA in civil engineering, Zealand was the only sophomore female voted to the CUSA All-Academic Team on Tuesday. She put an exclamation point on an outstanding season by finishing 21st at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships to become an All-American for the first time. Zealand notched top-five finishes at six consecutive meets to begin the year, headlined by a CUSA individual victory and a fifth-place all-region showing at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships. Zealand rewrote the Liberty women's cross country record books, finishing with the top 5K (15:54.7) and 6K (19:06.8) times in program history.
A Redmond, Wash., native with a 3.95 GPA in biomedical sciences, Pedersen enjoyed a breakthrough junior campaign. He finished a career-best 11th at the CUSA Championships for second team all-conference honors and placed 83rd in his NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships debut. Pedersen became the 13th Flame ever to dip under 24 minutes for a cross country 8K with his personal-best 23:43.6 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
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