Women’s Cross Country Program Honored Again For Academic Achievement
The UW-Oshkosh women's cross country program was recognized for its academic performance by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the third consecutive year.
Head coach Eamon McKenna's squad was one of 221 NCAA Division III programs to end the 2017 fall semester with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.10 or better. UW-Oshkosh concluded the fall session with a 3.43 GPA.
The top GPA in the NCAA Division III belonged to Fontbonne University (Mo.) at 3.94. Greenville College (Ill.) ranked second with a 3.83 GPA while Lynchburg College (Va.) listed third at 3.81 and Ithaca College (N.Y.) fourth at 3.78.
Other Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) programs honored were UW-Eau Claire (3.59), UW-Platteville (3.38), UW-Stevens Point (3.19), UW-Stout (3.49) and UW-Whitewater (3.21).
National champion Johns Hopkins University (Md.) registered a 3.40 GPA and was named the USTFCCA's Scholar Team of the Year.
UW-Oshkosh also had sophomore Ashton Keene and senior Cheyenne Moore named to the organization's All-Academic Team for the second straight year
Keene, who owns a 3.81 cumulative GPA as a biology major, finished 32nd last fall at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and 37th at the WIAC Championship. She also placed 16th at the University of Minnesota's Roy Griak Invitational and 32nd at UW-Oshkosh's Kollege Town Sports Invitational. In 2016, Keene finished 26th at the WIAC Championship, 48th at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and 174th at the NCAA Division III Championship.
Moore, who holds a 3.74 cumulative GPA as a nursing major, earned All-America honors last fall with her eighth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship. She also won the WIAC Championship for the second straight year while winning the Griak, UW-Eau Claire's Blugold and Kollege Town Sports invitational titles. In 2016, Moore won the WIAC Championship while placing fourth at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and 45th at the NCAA Division III Championship.
Keene and Moore helped UW-Oshkosh finish seventh at the WIAC Championship and 12th at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional.
In order to be eligible for All-Academic recognition, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of least 3.30 and finish in the top 25 percent at their respective regional meet. A total of 368 student-athletes received All-Academic honors, including 14 from the WIAC.
University of Chicago's (Ill.) Khia Kurtenbach was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
2017 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Awards • NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country
2017 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual Awards • NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country