USTFCCCA Women's Team |
USTFCCCA Men's Team
WINONA, Minn. — The cross country season has been over for nearly four months, but the honors continue to pile up for Saint Mary's University's
Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn.) and
Katie Stolz (Forest Lake, Minn.).
After earning All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and NCAA All-Region honors for their performances at the Cardinals' last two meets of the season, Haley and Stolz were both back in the limelight, as the SMU duo earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honors, it was announced Friday.
Honorees must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher, and must have finished among the top 25 percent of finishers at their respective regional championships.
Stoltz, a biology major with a 4.0 GPA, toured the six-kilometer women's course in a school-record time of 23:23 to finish 11th overall at the MIAC Championships on Nov. 2, then followed that up with another school-record effort of 23:14 to finish 23rd overall at the NCAA Central Regional on Nov. 16.
Fueled by her first All-MIAC effort, Stolz also earned the MIAC's prestigious Elite 22 honor — honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among her peers.
Haley, a business major with a 3.96 GPA, also enjoyed a memorable junior year, repeating as an All-MIAC selection with a school-record 8K time of 25:59 to place 13th overall at the conference meet, before adding a 35th-place showing at the NCAA Central Regional with a time of 26:09.
Stolz was one of 308 women in Division III who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the 2013 cross country season. Those 308 women hail from 129 different institutions and 35 different conferences. Middlebury was the best-represented program with seven All-Academic selections, followed by six teams with six each: Mount Union, MIT, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Tufts, Williams and Amherst. The NESCAC led the way in conference representation with 34 total honorees, followed by the UAA with 31 and the MIAC with 21.
Haley, meanwhile, was one of 228 men from 98 different institutions and 35 conferences in who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the 2013 cross country season. Four teams were represented by six All-Academic selections apiece in Williams, Washington (Mo.), Calvin and Wabash. Eleven more teams each had five student-athletes each earn the honor, including national team champion St. Olaf. The NESCAC led the way in conference representation with 31 total honorees, followed closely by the UAA with 27 and the Centennial Conference with 17.
Mike LeDuc of Connecticut College and Chelsea Johnson of St. Scholastica were named the USTFCCCA Division III Men's and Women's Scholar Athletes of the Year.
