NEW ORLEANS, La. - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its men’s and women's team and individual academic awards Thursday afternoon.
Colorado College, Southwestern University, Texas Lutheran University and Trinity University had both their men’s and women’s programs receive recognition, while the University of Dallas men were also recognized for the fourth consecutive year. Colorado College and Trinity had both program recognized the fourth consecutive year as well.
In total, the nine SCAC teams recognized are the most by the league since 11 were honored during the 2011 season.
The Colorado College men, led by Alex Nichols, posted the highest GPA among all NCAA Division III programs at 3.807 to garner All-Academic honors. The Tigers were tops among all 195 men’s teams in Division III to receive recognition. Southwestern University, coached by Joe Sponsel, posted a 3.453 GPA this season and University of Dallas, led by Nick Schneigert, rounded out the top three in the SCAC with a 3.3657 GPA. Head coach Emily Daum’s Trinity Tigers earned a 3.358 GPA, while Texas Lutheran University, led by Bri Ratlif, also earned All-Academic honors after posting a 3.284 team GPA.
For a team to be considered for this honor, it must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional meet and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.10 on a 4.0 scale. Overall, there were 429 teams honored by the USTFCCCA, of which 234 were women’s teams and 195 were men’s teams.
Individually, seniors James Settles, a computer science major, and Devlin Swanson, a biochemistry major, along with junior neuroscience major Brett Kitazono and first-year Will Shuflit of Colorado College all earned USTFCCCA All-Academic team recognition.
On the women’s side, Colorado College, led the way among all SCAC institutions receiving recognition with a team GPA of 3.862. That mark was fifth-best among the 234 teams across Division III to receive academic accolades. Trinity posted a team GPA of 3.645, Southwestern a 3.561 and Texas Lutheran a 3.131 with each earning tearn recognition from the USTFCCCA.
Individually, Colorado College placed five student-athletes on the USTFCCCA All-Academic team, including senior Kendall Accetta (Political Science & English), junior Elliot Singer (General Studies) and sophomores Ella Fullerton (Computer Science), Alison Mueller-Hickler (Environmental Science) and Sky Theodosopoulos (Biology).
To earn individual honors, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher and finish in the top 25 percent at their respective regional .
To view the entire list of USTFCCCA Women's Team Academic Award winners, click here.
To view the entire list of USTFCCCA Men's Team Academic Award winners, click here.
To view the entire list of USTFCCCA Women's Individual Academic Award winners, click here.
To view the entire list of USTFCCCA Men's Individual Academic Award winners, click here.
