NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Matthew Estopinal and Nick Laning of the Vanderbilt men’s cross country team earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
“This is an outstanding recognition for the hard work and diligence we saw daily from Nick and Matthew,” said Althea Thomas, director of cross country and track and field. “These young men have set the standard of what a Vanderbilt student-athlete is, elite on the track and in the classroom.”
Estopinal completed his master’s degree in chemical engineering with a 3.88 GPA and his undergrad in computer science and mathematics with a 3.78. The 2020-21 CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-District honoree has also been recognized by the SEC academically in 2020 and 2019.
At the NCAA South Regional, Estopinal finished second for the Commodores and 25th overall with a time of 30:36.01. He finished the 8k at the conference championships in 23:58.7. Estopinal earned All-Region and All-Academic honors by the USFTCCCA following the NCAA cross country championships.
Laning has maintained a standard of academic excellence with a GPA of 3.98 in civil engineering, which led him to be named CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team last year, the first individual to earn the honor in program history. He is also a two-time SEC cross country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, making him the first in Vanderbilt history — man or woman — to earn this honor and the second man in SEC history to win it more than once. Laning has also been named USTFCCCA All-Academic and all-region, is a three-time CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-District selection, and has made both the SEC Academic Honor Roll and SEC First Year Academic Honor Roll.
Athletically, he has been All-SEC Second Team twice in cross country during his career and was the 21st place finisher at the NCAA South Region Championships after crossing the finish line first for Vanderbilt. He also paced the Commodores at the conference championships, finishing 23rd overall and second on the team. Laning has 15 top-20 track and field finishes with several first-place finishes in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races.
The 2021-22 Academic All-District Men’s and Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in June.
