Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
All-Academic Teams
All-Academic Individuals
July 29, 2017 - The North Central College men's track and field team has been recognized for its combination of athletic and academic excellence in unprecedented fashion, as the Cardinals have been honored as the NCAA Division III National Scholar Team of the Year for the 2017 indoor season by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
North Central accumulated a team grade-point average of 3.15 and won the team national title in this year's championship, held in Naperville at Al B. Carius Track. This is the first time since the academic award's institution in 2007 that the Cardinals have been so honored. North Central is one of 111 men's Division III teams to qualify for All-Academic Team recognition (minimum team GPA of 3.00), doing so for the third consecutive year. The Cardinals are one of four College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) institutions to qualify for team honors, joining Augustana College, Illinois Wesleyan University and Wheaton College.
North Central also had a total of 10 student-athletes honored by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Assocation (USTFCCCA) as All-Academic Individuals. this season. To qualify for the individual All-Academic award, student-athletes must have compiled a grade point average of 3.30 and have competed at either the NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championships or finish the season ranked in the national top 35 in an individual event or the top 25 in a relay event.
The Cardinals' total of 10 honorees ranks as the fourth-highest number of recipients from any NCAA Division III institution. A total of 402 student-athletes from 116 institutions made the list, including 27 from the CCIW.
North Central sprinter Zach Kirby has been recognized as an All-Academic honoree for the fourth time, while distance runner Ethan Adlfinger and pole vaulter Spencer LaHaye are three-time selections. Distance runner Zach Hird, sprinter/hurdler Peyton Piron and high jumper Adam Poklop have made the list for the second time, while thrower Caleb Lundquist and distance runners Zach Herrera, Matt Norvell and Dhruvil Patel are first-time honorees.
Kirby, who recently graduated with majors in accounting and finance, earned All-America honors with a third-place finish in the 4-by-400-meter relay in this year's indoor championships, climbing the awards stand for the fourth time in his career as the Cardinals won their 11th team national championship. Adlfinger, a graduate with a degree in exercise science, earned All-America honors indoors with a sixth-place finish in the distance medley relay and qualified for the outdoor national championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. LaHaye, who graduated with a degree in interactive media studies, also became a first-time All-American indoors by placing fourth in the pole vault. He qualified for the outdoor championships for the third straight season as well.
Hird, an accounting major, teamed with Adlfinger in the distance medley at the indoor championships and also competed in the 3,000-meter run. He was an Academic All-District and Academic All-America selection this season by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), North Central's first since 2015. Piron, an actuarial science major, is a four-time All-American after running with Kirby in the 4-by-400 relay indoors and placing fourth in the 400-meter hurdles outdoors. Poklop, who majors in history and journalism, qualified for his first national championship meet indoors before becoming an All-American outdoors with a sixth-place finish in the high jump.
Patel, an accounting major, placed second in the 5,000-meter run and seventh in the 3,000-meter run indoors to earn All-America honors in both events, then qualified for the outdoor championships in the 5,000 as well. Herrera, a recent graduate with majors in economics and finance, qualified for national-championship competition outdoors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lundquist, an English major, placed third in the CCIW Outdoor Championships in the discus throw and javelin throw, moving into North Central's all-time top 10 in both events, while Norvell, a history and finance major, ranked 13th nationwide in the 10,000-meter run.
North Central became the first team in the history of the Division III Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship to win the national title as the host, and became the first to share the national title indoors as the Cardinals tied for the top spot with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
