Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals
Feb. 9, 2018 - The North Central College men's cross country program has been honored for its ability to combine academic excellence with its astonishing competitive success during the 2017 season, as the Cardinals have been recognized for the second straight year 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 3.18, the Cardinals were one of 167 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 fifth straight year and won the Scholar Team of the Year designation for the third time in the past four seasons. A total of seven College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) teams made the list this season, as the Cardinals were joined by Augustana College, Carroll University, Carthage College, Illinois Wesleyan University, North Park University and Wheaton College.
The Cardinals also had five individuals, senior
Argeni Bailon and juniors
Al Baldonado,
Zach Hird,
Matt Norvell 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, 300 Division III athletes earned the award.
Three of North Central's individual honorees earned All-America honors at the Division III National Championships in November, where the Cardinals won their 18th team national title with a score of 57 points and a 139-point margin of victory which was just short of the meet-record 144-point margin recorded by North Central's 2016 team. Patel placed third in the meet, while Baldonado placed eighth and Norvell finished 17th. Bailon finished 60th at the championship, while Hird placed 86th.
Patel placed second at the Division III Midwest Region Championship, which North Central won for the 29th time, followed by Norvell (eighth), Baldonado (12th), Bailon (14th) and Hird (26th). Hird and Patel are accounting majors, while Bailon studies athletic training, Baldonado majors in actuarial science, and Norvell is a double major in history and finance.
A total of 33 individual All-Academic Awards have been earned by North Central athletes since the introduction of those awards in 2004.
