USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Release
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual Release (Men)
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual Release (Women)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference earned prestigious recognition in the 2018 edition of the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Awards unveiled this week.
A total of 10 men’s and women’s programs from the Great Midwest earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team distinction and a combined 47 student-athletes collected USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual status in Division II.
A total of 405 women’s student-athletes from the indoor/outdoor track and field seasons earned all-academic individual honors during the 2017-18 year. The men tallied up to 308 total selections in Division II.
To qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, student-athletes must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have reached provisional or automatic qualifying standards for the NCAA Championships in either the indoor or outdoor seasons.
There were 216 (132 women, 84 men) total USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams selected and the cumulative GPA requirement for 2017-18 was a 3.00 standard.
The Great Midwest proudly staked claim to both No. 1-ranked team GPA’s in each men’s and women’s all-academic program listings, respectively.
In their first season competing with the league, the Walsh men topped all Division II schools with a 3.47 GPA with Bentley University in second at 3.43. Six different all-academic individuals from the Cavaliers contributed to the impressive team honor as head coach Rob Mizicko oversaw the success of his program.
In similar fashion, the Cedarville women, coached by Jeff Bolender, headlined the list of all women’s all-academic teams with a 3.61 GPA. The Yellow Jackets topped a host of schools with similar GPA’s, including Northwest Nazarene (3.59), Lubbock Christian (3.58), Michigan Tech / Minot State (3.57) and Florida Southern (3.54).
Breaking down the numbers further, Hillsdale’s women led all Great Midwest institutions with 11 total all-academic individual honorees. Two NCAA DII national champions, Walsh’s Sarah Berger and Ursuline’s Janelle Perry, also made the list.
Berger finished her career as a 10-time NCAA All-American and earned postseason accolades like Great Midwest Female Athlete of the Year, Great Midwest Female Collegiate Achievement Award Winner, Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-American and Walsh NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
Perry, who announced in the offseason she will be taking her talents to the Division I level at Central Michigan University, captivated the nation’s attention by presented her 100-meter hurdles national championship trophy to a fellow competitor after Darroneshia Lott of Coker was DQ’ed with what would have been a new 800-meter DII national record.
The Walsh men matched Tiffin’s number of six USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual selections for the most by a Great Midwest school. Tiffin will competing as a Great Midwest member institution for the first time in the 2018-19 academic year. Included on the list for the Dragons was Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-American Davis Bowers and Cameron Burrows.