MSU Track & Field, Eight Athletes Garner USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

Photo by: Spencer Farrin

MSU Track & Field, Eight Athletes Garner USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

7/26/2018 8:16:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Mason Storm and Alex Lewis each earned repeat All-Academic accolades to highlight Montana State's honorees on the USTFCCCA All-Academic list

By: Andrew Pedersen

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Montana State track and field program, along with members of the men's and women's teams, were honored by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Thursday. Both Bobcat squads were selected as All-Academic teams, while eight student-athletes made the All-Academic Individual list.

Trisha Carlson, Cameron Carroll, Anna French, Caroline Hardin, Alex Lewis, Calvin Root, Tiffany Shearman and Mason Storm were recognized as USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals.

To qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have met at least one of the following athletic standards; for the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org. For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).

Carroll and Hardin were honored for their athletic efforts during the recent indoor season.

Carroll finished the indoor campaign 73rd in the nation in the men's 800-meter run. His lifetime best mark of 1 minute, 50.6 seconds at the Big Sky Tuner on Feb. 16 was the sixth fastest in program history. He ended the slate by capturing a silver medal at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships. It was Carroll's first medal he earned at a Big Sky meet during his collegiate career.

Hardin completed the 96th fastest mark in Division I track in the 5,000 in her opening race of the season. She broke the program and facility record in the event with a converted time of 16:34.95. She was named Big Sky Women's Track Athlete of the Week for her performance.

Carlson, French, Lewis, Root, Shearman and Storm were recognized for their exploits during the outdoor season and performance in the classroom.

Carlson advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round and placed 39th among regional competitors in the 3,000 steeplechase. She established the second fastest steeplechase in program history by recording a time of 10:21.63 at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 19. Carlson picked up a silver medal at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in May and earned all-conference accolades.

French made her first NCAA Preliminaries appearance and took 38th in the steeplechase with a time of 10:38.99. She completed the third-best mark in program history at the Triton Invitational on April 14 with a time of 10:22.95. French finished eighth at the Big Sky outdoor meet in the steeplechase to contribute to the MSU team score.

Lewis earned All-Academic honors for the second consecutive season. The Moscow, Idaho, native qualified for the NCAA regional meet and took 33rd in the long jump with a leap of 23-08.75. He improved his second-best mark in program history in the event during the season which he improved to 24-08.25. Lewis took fourth in the long jump at the conference championships and also took 13th in the triple jump.

Root advanced to his second consecutive NCAA West Preliminary Round by completing the 28th best hammer throw in the region. He notched a lifetime-best mark of 206-07 in the event at the Cat-Griz Dual on April 28, which was the fifth farthest in school history. Root claimed his first gold medal of his collegiate career at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw on May 11.

Shearman made her first trip to the regional meet where she finished 45th overall in the javelin. Prior to the event in Sacramento, Shearman completed an all-conference effort when she took second at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships on May 11. Her throw of 153-00 (46.64m) moved her up to sixth in program history and was the 39th best mark in the West Region.

Storm earned repeat USTFCCCA All-Academic honors. He capped his collegiate tenure with the fifth highest decathlon total of 7,161 points all-time for the Bobcats at the conference championships. The effort earned him a silver medal and his mark was the 24th best score in the West Region and 40th highest in all of Division I track and field.

The Bobcats men's and women's squads were also honored as Division I Track and Field All-Academic Teams.

The MSU men's team earned a 3.28 cumulative GPA, while the women's team earned a 3.54 GPA. Both 2017-18 marks were improvements from the 2016-17 season.

A total of 359 Division I teams were recognized for their academic efforts by the USTFCCCA, with 219 women's teams honored and 140 men's teams recognized.