Five Titans Receive USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors
UW-Oshkosh's Joe Zack excelled athletically and academically to repeat as a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team.
Zack was among five UW-Oshkosh men named to the 2015 track & field squad, with the others being Kallen Bentz, Derek Johnsrud, Justin Skinkis and Dan Trimner.
The USTFCCCA recognized 297 NCAA Division III student-athletes, including a league-best 41 from Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools. Indoor national champion UW-La Crosse posted a nation-leading 16 All-Academic honorees, while North Central College (Ill.) followed with 12.
Zack, a sophomore biology major with a 3.51 GPA, ran on UW-Oshkosh's seventh-place distance medley relay team at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship, while Bentz, a freshman pre-medicine major with a 3.73 GPA, helped the Titans' 1,600-meter relay team finish second in the country indoors and seventh outdoors.
Johnsrud, a senior education major with a 3.96 GPA, placed 12th in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship. Last May, he was named the winner of the UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.
Skinkis, a freshman education major with a 3.41 GPA, ran with Zack on UW-Oshkosh's distance medley relay team at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship.
Trimner, a sophomore medical technologies major with a 3.30 GPA, joined Bentz in running on UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay team at the NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor championships.
The USTFCCCA selected Paul Escher of St. Olaf College (Minn.) as its Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Colt Feltes of Wartburg College (Iowa) received the indoor field award, while Travon Godette of Westfield State University (Mass.) earned the outdoor field honor.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA's All-Academic Track & Field Team, student-athletes must own a minimum GPA of 3.30 and have either competed in an NCAA indoor or outdoor championship or finished the regular season ranked in the national top 35 of an individual event or in the national top 25 of a relay event on the official NCAA Proof of Performance list.
UW-La Crosse was named the USTFCCCA's Scholar Team of the Year after tabulating a GPA of 3.16. Amherst College (Mass.) led all NCAA Division III schools with its GPA of 3.53.