NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Penn State track & field program earned both team and individual academic honors as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Thursday, July 16.
Both the men's and women's track & field teams earned All-Academic Team honors. To be eligible to the All-Academic Team awards, the cumulative GPA for all student-athletes on the institution's NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period.
The Nittany Lions women's team compiled a 3.38 team GPA and the men's team compiled a 3.16 team GPA to each earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards.
The track & field student-athletes continued their academic success as 15 Nittany Lions earned USTFCCCA All-Academic awards. Included on the list of Penn State honorees is National Champion Danae Rivers and three-time All-American Maddie Holmberg.
The following Nittany Lions earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete awards:
- Breana Gambrell
- Maddie Holmberg
- Payden Montana
- Kathryn Munks
- Gianna Rao
- Danae Rivers
- Victoria Tachinski
- Rae Rae Taylor
- Will Ashenfelter
- Isaiah Dillard
- Evan Dorenkamp
- Drew Maher
- Tyler Merkley
- Ben Peterson
- Owen Wing
Criteria for All-Academic for student-athletes:
- Minimum CUMULATIVE grade point average of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period, certifiable by either NCAA Faculty Rep or NCAA Compliance Coordinator or Registrar's Office. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0].
- Must have completed at least two (2) semesters or three (3) quarters at the nominating institution.
- Athletic criteria for the award:
- For the indoor season: must have finished the season ranked in the top 96 in any championship individual event, or in the top 48 in any championship relay event, for the most recent indoor season, certifiable by their place on the NCAA Division I descending order lists on TFRRS for Indoor Track and Field (including performances achieved outside the qualifying window during the indoor season.
The most recent awards from the USTFCCCA continued the track & field/cross country programs success in the classroom in 2019-20. The Nittany Lions recently had 39 student-athletes earn Academic All-Big Ten honors and 21 named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
For more information on Penn State track & field/cross country, visit gopsusports.com.