MOREHEAD, Ky. – For the third straight year, the Morehead State track and field teams join their counterparts on the cross country squads by being named as a United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team.
The 2024 MSU women's track and field squad's cumulative grade point average was a 3.456, while the men's was a 3.353. This past fall, the Eagle men's cross country team's cumulative GPA was a 3.34 GPA, with the women's sitting at 3.5. In order to be recognized for USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors, the collective cumulative career GPA must be at least a 3.0.
"The only thing they take more seriously than running is their academics," MSU head coach Clay Dixon said of his teams. "It's a priority here at MSU that our students do well in the classroom."
The 2024 numbers were a slight decrease from a year ago for both the women (3.52) and the men, although the 2023 men's total was a 15-year high of 3.36. As for the women, this past season was the sixth time in the last eight years their mark was above a 3.45.
Since 2010, MSU's women's track and field team has been recognized as an All-Academic Team 13 times, while the men's squad has been honored 10 times.
A total of 239 women's programs and 181 men's squads were named as an All-Academic Team in Division I this year. Besides Morehead State, three other Ohio Valley Conference schools had both of their teams recognized: Eastern Illinois (men's GPA of 3.11 and women's GPA of 3.64), Little Rock (men's GPA of 3.22 and women's GPA of 3.31) and Southeast Missouri (men's GPA of 3.442 and women's GPA of 3.545). In the GPA hierarchy of the league's 11 schools, MSU's men sit second and women third.
Morehead State also fares well compared to other local colleges: Austin Peay (women at 3.43), Belmont (men at 3.30 and women at 3.69), Cincinnati (men at 3.29 and women at 3.47), Dayton (women at 3.37), Eastern Kentucky (men at 3.2 and women at 3.4), IUPUI (men at 3.47 and women at 3.2), Kentucky (men at 3.1 and women at 3.3), Louisville (men at 3.23 and women at 3.54), Marshall (men at 3.22 and women at 3.24), Northern Kentucky (men at 3.15 and women at 3.52), Tennessee (men at 3.2 and women at 3.56) and Wright State (men at 3.22 and women at 3.33).
The Eagle men have the best cumulative GPA among all NCAA Division I institutions in the state, while the women are third.
Texas Tech's men and Arkansas' women were recognized as the Division I National Scholar Teams of the Year for the indoor season, while Florida (men) and Arkansas (women) took home the honors for the Division I outdoor campaign. Creighton's men (3.77) and Arizona's women (3.871) had the highest respective overall GPAs in Division I.
The USATFCCCA also released its list of All-Academic Athletes, which included among its requirements qualifying for the NCAA Championship. Because no Eagle did, MSU student-athletes were ineligible for that award.
As of the end of the spring semester, nine women and nine men who were on the official roster for the 2023-24 track and field team posted a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5. That group included: Taylor Allen, Bella Almodovar, Christiana Brittian, Noah Bunting, Megan Bush, Toby Cook, Cloe Copas, Kyle Embry, Lauren Gooderson, Lilly Gray, Austin Montgomery, Lucy Singleton, Kyler Stewart, Abby Taylor, Keghan Thompson, Jacob Vogelpohl, Garrett West and Aidan Whitsell.
Three Eagles who competed this past spring (Bush, Cook and Embry) earned OVC Medals of Honor for posting a 4.0 GPA in 2022-23. Several more earned a spot on the 2022-23 Commissioner's Honor Roll list, which includes student-athletes with at least a 3.25 for the year. Those individuals are: Bush, Cook, Embry, Brittian, Copas, Natalie Curry, Gray, Sam Lucas, Montgomery, Stewart, Singleton, Laikin Tarlton and Taylor. Both 2023-24 lists are expected to be announced within the next few days.
