NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Matthew Estopinal and Nick Laning each represented Vanderbilt men’s cross country on the 2020-21 Academic First-Team All-District Men’s and Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country teams as announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Academic All-District Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in the competition realm and in the classroom. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot.
Laning holds a 3.98 GPA as a civil engineering major. In 2019, he was just the second Vanderbilt man to earn all-SEC honors in cross country and the first since 1966. The 2020 SEC Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Laning earned this honor for the second straight year. The rising senior, who was also an all-region selection in addition to his second-team all-conference honors in 2019, was a USTFCCCA All-Academic recipient last season as well.
Also a rising senior, Estopinal had a breakout year as a junior. He was first on the team at the SEC Championships and the overall runner-up at the Gans Creek Classic on Oct. 3. Estopinal has scored at every meet for the Commodores over the last two seasons. A two-time SEC academic honoree, the Huntsville, Alabama, native holds a 3.78 GPA as a double major in computer science and mathematics.
First, second and third team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in mid-August.
