NEW ORLEANS, LA. – Eight cross country teams and individual student-athletes from around the American Athletic Conference earned a spot on the 2017 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTCCCA)
All-Academic list, as announced by the organization on Friday.
In order for a team to earn the honor, a team must possess a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Overall, there were 423 programs that brought home All-Academic honors. Of those 423 teams, 228 of them were women’s programs and 195 of them men’s.
Student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and finish in the top-25 (or 10 percent) at regionals or as an All-American in the national meet to qualify for the individual award. There were 269 student-athletes named
USTFCCCA All-Academic with women accounting for 63 percent of the total (169).
Six men’s teams made the list, including Cincinnati, UConn, ECU, Houston, USF and Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane led the way with a 3.41 GPA. Eight women’s teams, including Cincinnati, UConn, ECU, Houston, USF, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa, qualified for the award. SMU averaged a 3.63 GPA to rank the highest among the group.
Patrick Begley (UConn), Brian Barraza (Houston), Hannah Miller (SMU), Charlotte Tara Murphy (SMU), Marc Steinsberger (Temple), Lauren Bartels (Tulane), Henry Pearce (Tulsa) and Adam Roderique (Tulsa) each were named USTFCCCA All-Academic.