SAU Sports Information
NEW ORLEANS, La. – SAU men's cross country sophomore runner Cole Watson has been named an All-Academic performer by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Also, both of head coach Tim Servis' Southern Arkansas cross country teams have been named All-Academic Teams for their performance in the classroom this past fall as announced by the USTFCCCA last week.
Watson, in his second season for the Mulerider Cross Country program, claimed the honor by owning a 3.53 cumulative grade-point average as well as by finishing among the top 30 percent of eligible runners at the Central Region Championships last fall.
A native of Bryant, Watson earned All-Great American Conference First-Team honors in 2017 after recording a tenth-place finish in 26:47.75 to help Southern Arkansas to a historic second-place finish overall at the GAC Championships. Last season, Watson paced the Muleriders as the top finisher in three of the team's seven races.
The Muleriders posted a team-GPA of 3.14 last fall and finished 20th at the NCAA DII Central Region Championships. Before the team's performance in Kearney, Nebraska, the Muleriders raced to the aforementioned historic second-place finish at the league championships in October. The SAU Men were one of three Great American Conference teams awarded the national honor.
The SAU Women were one of six GAC teams to be named an All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA and the Lady Muleriders' team-GPA of 3.43 is the third-highest among league opponents receiving the honor.
The Lady Muleriders finished the 2017 season with three top-3 finishes overall and placed fifth of 12 at the league championships in October. Additionally, the squad logged a 28th-place finish overall at the NCAA DII Central Region Championships.
Per the USTFCCCA, a total of 675 athletes – 393 women and 282 men – earned individual All-Academic honors, with a whopping 89 athletes posting a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Tiffin's James Ngandu and Alaska Anchorage's Caroline Kurgat, both of whom won the 2017 DII Cross Country Championships, were honored as the NCAA Division II Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year, respectively.
The individual All-Academic honor was awarded to those athletes who have compiled a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.25 and finished among the top 30 percent of eligible runners at his or her regional championships and/or the top half of the field at the NCAA Championships.
Overall, there were 176 teams – 157 women's teams and 119 men's teams – that picked up All-Academic honors. Union (Tenn.) paced the women's side with the highest team grade point average of 3.92. Alderson Broaddus and Azusa Pacific tied for the best men's grade point average, as each program posted a 3.77 in the classroom.
Defending men's and women's cross country national champions Adams State earned both the Male and Female Scholar Team of the Year honors by being the highest-finishing teams from their respective genders at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships to have garnered All-Academic honors.
Teams must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 and must have scored at an NCAA Division II regional meet to qualify for All-Academic team awards.