PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Six American Athletic Conference cross country/track and field student-athletes, including four men and two women, earned
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Google Cloud Academic All-America honors, as announced by the organization Thursday. Memphis placed three athletes on the list, while Houston distance runner Brian Barraza led the pack with a first team selection and 4.00 GPA. Joining Barraza was Memphis’ Olushola Olojo, Rafael Vallery and Ashley Pryke, along with Cincinnati’s Adrian Valles and Tulane’s Lauren Bartels.
To be nominated for an Academic All-American spot, student-athletes needed to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.30 and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's contests while being an important member of the team athletically. After being nominated, college sports information directors across the country vote on the most deserving athletes.
Thursday’s honor marks Barraza’s second straight Academic All-America accolade after earning second team honors in 2016-17. Barraza most recently became just the second athlete in conference history to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The American champion and record holder in the steeplechase, Barraza ran the fastest conference time in the event at the NCAA Regionals (8:41.49). He improved his time to 8:40.25 in the semifinals at the NCAA Championships before garnering All-America honors in the finals, finishing 10th in the event.
Valles, a The American’s 2017-18 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for indoor track & field, as well as the overall conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, earned his third-straight CoSIDA Academic All-America nod—a feat accomplished by only one other athlete this year. A six-time USTFCCCA All-America pole vaulter and seven-time conference champion and record holder, Valles was unable to compete much of the outdoor season because of an injury. In March, at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Valles was named the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner for the second year in a row as the competitor at the final site with the highest cumulative grade-point average.
Memphis’ Olushola Olojo, Ashley Pryke and Rafael Vallery each earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Pryke (third team) and Vallery (second team) each made first appearances on the list, while Olojo (third team) was selected for a second-consecutive year. Pryke, a two-time USTFCCCA first team All-America javelin thrower most recently placed seventh at the NCAA Championships. She picked up her second-straight conference javelin title in May and holds the league’s top all-time javelin throw distance.
Vallery is coming off a second team All-America discus throw performance at the NCAA Championship. He was a four-time American Athletic Conference medalist in the throws. Olojo, who competes in jumping events, was also a CoSIDA third team All-America selection in 2016-17. He is a three-time conference medalist, winning the triple jump in 2017.
Bartels collected second team All-America honors for the first time in her career after being named also named the American Athletic Conference cross country Scholar Athlete of the Year in March. During the cross country season, Bartels was the fifth-place finisher at The American Championship, racing to a 6K time of 21:54.1. She was also No. 22 in the NCAA South Central Regional with a 6K time of 20:35.8.