Tuesday, October 25, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – The conference’s top runners are also among the top academic performers in the conference as Alaska Anchorage’s Caroline Kurgat and Edwin Kangogo lead the list of 105 student-athletes named to the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country All-Academic Team.

The two conference champions are among 10 on the All-Academic Team who were also recognized as All-GNAC performers with top-10 finishes at the GNAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 22. Kurgat, an All-American in 2015, won the women’s title in a time of 21:17.10 over 6,000 meters. Kangogo, a three-time top-10 finisher, claimed his first GNAC title in a time of 24:54.80 over 8,000 meters.

Kurgat, a junior, has a 3.50 cumulative grade point average as a nursing major. Kangogo, also a junior, has a 3.22 GPA as an economics major.

A total of 61 women were selected to the Cross Country All-Academic Team. The honor roll is led by a pair of runners with a 4.00 GPA: Central Washington sophomore Alexa Shindruk has a 4.00 GPA and is undeclared. Western Oregon sophomore Grace Knapp has a 4.00 GPA as a business major.

Kurgat is among 33 repeat selections to the team. A total of 13 runners earned a spot for the third time: Alaska’s Nichole Bathe, Sarah Lilly, Dorothy O’Donnell, Hannah Rowland and Kali Striker; Central Washington’s Kaitlyn McKinney, Montana State Billings’ Rio Frame, Northwest Nazarene’s Emily Merioles, Saint Martin’s Alexis Carandang, Claire McCloskey and Megan Teigen; Seattle Pacific’s Hannah Calvert and Sarah Macdonald; and Western Washington’s Sofia Marikis.

A total of 43 runners make the men’s team, led by four athletes with a 4.00 GPA or better. Simon Fraser’s Lorenzo Smith earned his third selection and led the list with a 4.17 GPA as a biomedical physiology major on the Canadian system that awards 4.33 grade points for an A-plus. Alaska’s Michael Ferhrenbach has a 4.00 GPA as a mechanical engineering major and Lyon Kopsack has a 4.00 GPA as a civil engineering major. Northwest Nazarene’s Isaac Mitchell has a 4.00 GPA as a biology major with a pre-medicine emphasis.

Kangogo is among a total of 16 repeat selections to the men’s team, including three three-time performers: Smith, Alaska Anchorage’s Michael Mendenhall and Saint Martin’s Jasper Heckman.

Alaska led all GNAC teams with 18 selections to the team while Western Washington had 15 total selections. Alaska led all men’s teams with 10 honorees and Western Washington had 10 women’s selections.

To qualify for selection to the GNAC Cross Country All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be of sophomore standing or better, have a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and must have competed at the nominating institution for at least one season.