Ephs garner USTFCCA national team academic award/Watts and Raduazo cop individual honors
NEW ORLEANS – Williams College has been
named the 2008 NCAA Division III USTFCCCA Men’s Cross Country
Scholar Team of the Year, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross
Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Tuesday.
Williams receives the 2008 USTFCCCA All-Academic honor after
finishing third overall at the 2008 NCAA Division III Cross Country
National Championships. The Ephs also won the New England
Championships and its third straight New England Small College
Athletic Conference Championship prior to nationals.
In the classroom, the Ephs maintained a 3.360 cumulative team
grade point average. While this is the first Scholar Team of
the Year honor for Williams, the institution has made the USTFCCCA
All-Academic team list every year since 2005.
"The qualities you need to succeed in cross country –
discipline, time management and being able to work individually
– are the same qualities you need to succeed in the
classroom," noted Eph head coach Peter Farwell. "We're very
fortunate to be able to attract good runners who work hard in
training and in the classroom."
While this is the fourth consecutive year the Ephs have been
recognized as a USTFCCA Academic Team honoree, the Ephs have a
streak of 17 straight years of earning a national team academic
award having previously been honored by the NCAA Division III
Coaches since 1992.
Grinnell College had the highest overall team grade point average;
3.650. 103 Division III men’s cross country programs
received the 2008 USTFCCCA All-Academic team award. Five of
the 103 schools finished in the top ten at the national meet, while
14 of the top 20 teams at the national meet were represented on the
USTFCCCA All-Academic team list.
Williams’ conference affiliate, the NESCAC, qualified eight
men’s programs on the list as did the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference (SCAC), and the University Athletic Association
(UAA). The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(MIAC) and the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) each had
seven conference programs on the men’s USTFCCCA All-Academic
team list.
For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team
award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA
Regional Meet. The team must also have a minimum 3.10 team
cumulative grade point average.
In addition to the team award junior Corey Watts and first year
Anthony Raduazo were accorded individual honors by being named
USTFCCCA Cross Country Scholar-Athletes.
