Friday, May 29, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two of the top distance runners in the conference on both the cross country course and the track, Alaska Anchorage junior Felix Kemboi and Western Oregon senior Justin Crosswhite have been selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America’s (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 8 Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field Team.

The two were among 10 honorees on the team, which is comprised of student-athletes from the GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association and the PacWest Conference. With the shortened collegiate spring seasons nationwide, nominees for the program were evaluated using career statistics instead of season statistics.

With the selections, Kemboi and Crosswhite are now eligible for selection to the CoSIDA Division II Academic All-America Cross Country/Track and Field Team, which will be announced on Wednesday, June 24.

Kemboi, who has a 3.50 GPA as a health science major, won the 2019 GNAC Cross Country Championships after finishing as the runner-up a year earlier and was named the conference’s Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year. He went on to place eighth at the NCAA West Regional and earned All-American honors with a 37th place finish at the NCAA Championships. The 2020 GNAC indoor champion in the 5,000 meters, Kemboi earned All-American honors as part of the Seawolves’ distance medley relay team. For his career, Kemboi has seven All-West Region awards and two All-American trophies.

Crosswhite, who owns a 3.63 GPA as a business major, was the runner-up at the 2019 GNAC Cross Country Championships to Kemboi. The 2019 GNAC indoor champion in the mile, Crosswhite placed third in the event at the 2018 GNAC Championships and was a member of the Wolves’ DMR that placed second. As a sophomore, Crosswhite was a member of Western Oregon’s 2017 conference champion cross country team and competed at the NCAA Championships.

To be eligible for the CoSIDA All-Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and must have completed one full calendar year at the nominating institution. Nominated student-athletes must also have participated in at least 50 percent of their teams’ competitions.