NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has announced the 2012 DII Cross Country All-Academic Awards, with Anderson's Parks Edwards and Emily Eckroth being named to the teams.
On the men's side, a total of 209 student-athletes represented the 99 institutions that compose the group. Sioux Falls, Mars Hill, Western State, and Bentley led the division with five honorees on the All-Academic list. Tops among conferences was the PSAC that delivered 28, followed by the GLIAC's 25.
Micah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage was named the Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year. Chelimo, a senior mechanical engineering major from Kapkoi, Kenya, earned a 3.26 cumulative grade point average through the 2012 fall semester. Chelimo's DII NCAA Championships title was the capstone of a season in which he went undefeated. He finished the 10k course in 28:56.6 to claim victory by more than 15 seconds over runner-up Kevin Batt of team champion Adams State. His undefeated season also included individual titles at the West Regional and the GNAC Championships, both for the second year in a row.
Thirteen on the list reported cumulative GPAs of 4.0 through the fall semester.
On the women's side, a total of 345 student-athletes represented the 126 institutions that compose the group. Sixteen of the top 25 finishers from the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall earned All-Academic honors.
Thirty-eight on the All-Academic list have a cumulative GPA of 4.0 through the 2012 fall semester.
Alicia Nelson of Adams State was named the Women's Scholar Athlete of the Year. Nelson, a senior fine art/painting major from Craig, Colo., earned a 3.664 cumulative grade point average through the 2012 fall semester. Nelson claimed - in record-setting fashion - Adams State's first individual women's cross country title since 2002. Her winning 6k time of 20:03.3 was a DII Championships record, which boosted her team to a third-place finish. Sitting in fourth at the halfway point, she won by more than nine seconds over runner-up Susan Tanui of Alaska Anchorage, and by 19 seconds over third-place finisher Katie Spratford of Shippensburg.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team in
Division II, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative
grade point average of 3.25 or greater through the most-recent
semester, completed at least 12 credit hours in the semester of
cross country competition, and placed in the top 50 percent at the
most recent NCAA National Championships or in the top 30 percent at
the NCAA Regional Championships.
