Reuben Mwei of Adams State Named as Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Division II Cross Country

NEW ORLEANS – Reuben Mwei of Adams State has been named as Division II’s male cross country Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2009 season as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Thursday. Mwei is also among 152 given All-Academic status for the previous cross country season for their efforts in the classroom and on nation’s cross country courses.

2008 Honorees | Award History

Mwei, a senior from Kapsabet, Kenya, has a 3.40 cumulative GPA in the field of Psychology through the 2009 fall semester. Mwei is the second Scholar-Athlete honoree in-a-row for Adams State as Aaron Braun won the award in 2008.

In the fall, Mwei was named as the USTFCCCA’s National Athlete of the Year after capturing the individual NCAA crown in cross country. Mwei clocked 30:27.8 over 10 kilomaters at the national championships in Evansville, Ind., winning by only four tenths of a second over Harding’s Daniel Kirwa to become the first individual from Adams State to win the national cross country title since 2003.

Mwei also finished first at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships (RMAC) this fall and finished third at the NCAA Central Regional Championship. Mwei, also the USTFCCCA Central Region Male Athlete of the Year finished the Central Region course with a time of 30:57.3, helping lead the Grizzlies to their second-straight regional title.

Mwei is joined by fellow Grizzlies Aaron Braun, Brandon Birdsong, Luke Cragg, and Anthony Gauthier as All-Academic honorees. Adams State also captured its second-consecutive national team title in November.

To qualify for All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least 12 semester/quarter hours through the semester of competition at the institution to be eligible.  The student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and have placed in the top 30% of the total number of athletes eligible to compete at the respective regional championships or have placed in the top 50% of the field at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

The 152 USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees represent 78 schools around the country. The list includes nine who were reported to have 4.0 GPAs at the end of the 2009 fall semester: Matt Braithwaite of Augustana (S.D.), Chris Lantinen of Edinboro, Matt Rutt of Indiana (Pa.), Jacob Stucky of Lenoir-Rhyne, Jesse Baggenstos of Northwest Nazarene, Simon Stuetzel of Queens (N.C.), Jordan Kirwen of Findlay, Micah Chelimo of Alaska, and Kevin Clancy of UNC Pembroke.

The list also includes four who finished in the nation’s top 10 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and one regional champion.

Western State and Edinboro led the country by placing six on the All-Academic list. Adams State followed with five. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) again had the most conference student-athletes on the USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic list with 27, followed by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) who placed 18.

The female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Division II, along with additional individuals given All-Academic status, will be released tomorrow, Friday, February 26. Those institutions given All-Academic Team status will be named on Wednesday, March 3 (men) and Thursday, March 4 (women).

USTFCCCA 2009 Division II Cross Country All-Academic Honorees, MEN

* Reported having a 4.0 cumulative GPA
^ Scholar-Athlete of the Year