Irish Cross Country Honored For Work In Classroom By USTFCCCA

Feb. 27, 2013

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Five University of Notre Dame cross country student-athletes were named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team recently. Kelly Curran, Hannah Eckstein, Molly Seidel and Rebecca Tracy were selected as recipients for the accolade on the women’s side while Martin Grady earned the honor on the men’s side.

The women’s squad quadruplet was one of 115 student-athletes chosen representing 69 institutions and Grady was one of 67 recipients selected from a group of 40 institutions.

Grady was the top finisher for the men’s squad (ninth-31:02) at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (10K) on Nov. 9 at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisc. Curran (20:40-10^th) was the first Irish runner through the line in the women’s 6K and was followed by Tracy (20:48-15^th), Seidel (20:50-19^th) and Eckstein (20:53-22^nd). All five earned all-region accolades.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have either earned USTFCCCA All-America status or finished in the NCAA region’s top 15 (or top 10 percent) in 2012.

In addition to Notre Dame’s all-academic team honorees, collectively, the women’s team (3.433 GPA) and the men’s team (3.298 GPA) were each named to USTFCCA’s list of Division I All-Academic Cross Country Teams.

In a pool of 30 conferences among 200 institutions, the women’s team was one of the nation-leading 12 BIG EAST teams to earn the honor, while the men were one of a nation-leading nine BIG EAST conference squads to be selected from a list of 145 institutions.

To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, the team must have had a cumulative team GPA of 3.00 or better and have started at least five runners at their respective NCAA regional championship.

This marks the fifth-straight year the women’s team has been named an USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team and the fourth time in six years the men’s team has earned the accolade.

–ND–