Feb. 11, 2015
The 2014 Vanderbilt men’s and women’s cross country teams were able to maintain — and even enhance — the Commodores’ status as of one of the premiere academic athletic programs in the nation.
Both Vanderbilt squads have once again been named All-Academic Teams by the USTFCCCA, which represents the ninth consecutive year in head coach Steve Keith’s nine-year tenure that both of his teams have earned the honor.
The Vanderbilt men compiled a GPA of 3.73 — the highest in the nation among the Division I All-Academic team qualifiers — and the Vanderbilt women posted an impressive mark of 3.37.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Keith. “These student-athletes work extremely hard at both their academics and athletics.”
Earning individual All-Academic honors for the Vanderbilt women were: Sara Barron (Music Management and Marketing), Carmen Carlos (Neuroscience) and Amira Joseph (Neuroscience).
“To run 60-70 mile weeks and manage some very challenging degree plans, they have my respect,” said Keith.
Barron, Carlos and Joseph played a key role in helping the Commodores put together a historic season that included their first-ever NCAA South region championship and a fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. Vanderbilt won the region title by upsetting three-time defending champion Florida State.
To qualify as an All-Academic Team, programs must post at least a 3.00 cumulative team grade-point average during the fall season and start at least five runners at their respective NCAA regional meet. To qualify for the individual All-Academic honor, athletes must have compiled a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have finished in the top 15 finishers (or 10 percent) at regionals or as an All-American at the national meet.
The SEC was tops among women’s conferences with 19 honorees, followed by both the Big Ten and the ACC with 17 each. For the men, the Big Ten was the best-represented with 15 honores, and the Ivy League had nine.
A total of 61 men’s teams and 81 women’s teams had at least one All-Academic runner.
