AUSTIN, Texas — Alumna Vera Sjöberg was named an Academic All-American First Team honoree by the College Sports Communicators, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Sjöberg posted a 3.97 cumulative GPA, graduating with a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in women, gender & sexuality and was the national runner-up in the 5,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June, the best finish by a BU or Patriot League woman ever. She becomes the first woman in program history to earn Academic All-America honors and the second woman in BU history to garner First Team recognition, following women's tennis' Michelle Magid in 1998. The last track & field athlete to earn CSC Academic All-America honors was Matti Groll of the men's team in 2017, when he earned a spot on the Third Team.

The Stockholm, Sweden native finished her final year on Comm. Ave by qualifying for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the NCAA Indoor Championships and the NCAA Outdoor Championships, bringing home three All-America nods, two of which were First Team accolades. She became the first women's athlete in Patriot League and BU history to qualify for multiple events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as she raced in the 1,500m and the 5,000m.

Sjöberg also won a total of 13 Patriot League titles during her time at BU and brought home four League Track Athlete of the Meet honors along with a cross country Runner of the Meet award. She owns school records in the indoor 3,000m, indoor mile, indoor 1,000m, outdoor 1,500m and outdoor 5,000m and helped set the school record in the outdoor 4x800m in 2025. The League awarded her with three Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards during the cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons along with the overall Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for the 2024-25 academic year.

She is also the 23rd-fastest indoor miler in collegiate history with a 4:28.12 time and is the 24th-fastest outdoor 1,500m runner all-time with a 4:07.39 mark. Sjöberg was named the USTFCCCA Northeast Track Athlete of the Year in June of 2025.

On top of her success on the track, Sjöberg earned two prestigious awards from BU this past spring, taking home the Mildred Barnes award for the top female student-athlete at BU as well as BU's Woman of the Year award, which honors the female student-athlete who best exemplifies a commitment to service, leadership, athletics and academics during her collegiate career.