Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals
Feb. 9, 2017 - The North Central College men's cross country program has been honored for its ability to combine academic and athletic excellence during the 2016 season, as the Cardinals have been recognized as the NCAA Division III Scholar Team of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Posting a team grade-point average of 3.20, the Cardinals were one of 173 NCAA Division III teams to finish the fall season with a least a 3.1 team GPA. North Central qualified for one of the USTFCCCA's Team Academic Awards for the fourth straight year and is one of six College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) teams to make the list, joining Augustana College, Carroll University, Carthage College, North Park University and Wheaton College.
The Cardinals also had six individuals, seniors
Ethan Adlfinger and
Omar Gomez, junior
Dan O'Keefe, and sophomores
Al Baldonado,
Zach Hird and
Dhruvil Patel, receive All-Academic honors as individuals. The individual All-Academic Award honors those student-athletes who carry a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade-point average and finish in the top 25 percent at their respective NCAA regional meet. In total, 290 Division III athletes earned the award.
Four of North Central's individual honorees earned All-America honors at the Division III National Championships in November, where the Cardinals won their 17th team national title with a score of 60 points and established a new national meet record for margin of victory (144 points). Baldonado placed 15th, while Patel placed 18th, Adlfinger finished 19th and Hird came in 24th. O'Keefe placed 48th at the meet and Gomez finished 95th.
Patel placed fifth at the Division III Midwest Region Championship, which North Central won for the 28th time, followed by Adlfinger (seventh), Baldonado (eighth), Hird (15th), Gomez (17th) and O'Keefe (25th). Adlfinger and Gomez are exercise science majors, Baldonado is an athletic training major, Hird and Patel are accounting majors, and O'Keefe is a sport management major.
A total of 28 individual All-Academic Awards have been earned by North Central athletes since the introduction of those awards in 2004.
