DIII Men’s Track & Field Scholar Athletes of the Year & All-Academic Individuals Announced

NEW ORLEANS – Paul Escher of St. Olaf, Colt Feltes of Wartburg and Travon Godette of Westfield State have been named the male Scholar Athletes of the Year in NCAA Division III for the 2014-15 track & field season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the association announced Friday.

Taking into account their accomplishments both in the classroom and in competition during the recently completed academic year, these three men stood out among a class of 297 who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors. The full breakdown of All-Academic selections can be found below.

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Scholar Athletes of the Year were selected as the highest-finishing performers at the NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Championships who also achieved USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual status. Those who earned multiple individual championship titles ranked higher in the tie-breaking process, and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker to establish a winner.

Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes for the indoor and outdoor seasons, resulting in four categories.

Escher, a junior religion and biology double major with a cumulative GPA of 3.96, swept both the indoor and outdoor track honors for his first career Scholar Athlete awards. The La Crosse, Wisconsin, native is the first man since Tim Nelson of UW-Stout in 2012 to win both the indoor and outdoor track honors.

Indoors he won the national mile title by nearly two seconds in a career-best 4:10.19, and he doubled back outdoors to take the 1500 meters crown in 3:49.64 to win by more than a second over Charlie Marquardt of Haverford.

He is the first man from St. Olaf to win track & field Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.

Feltes, a senior accounting major with a cumulative 3.506 grade point average, earned the indoor field award for his first career Scholar Athlete honor. The native of Delhi, Iowa, finished runner-up in the shot put with a heave of 60-6 (18.44m) and threw a career-best 60-11½ at the Wartburg Indoor Select earlier in the season.

He is the second man from Wartburg to have earned track & field Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.

Godette, a junior English major with a cumulative 3.43 GPA, was named the outdoor field winner for his first career Scholar Athlete award. The Orange, Massachusetts, native claimed the national title in the javelin, heaving a first-attempt 221-5 (67.50m) for a career-best that would stand as the leader for the remainder of the competition.

He is the first Scholar Athlete from Westfield State.

All-Academic Individuals

UW-La Crosse is the Best Represented Team; WIAC  Leads the Way for Conferences

Including the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 297 men from 106 institutions earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for their combined academic and athletic accomplishments.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met either of the following athletic standards:

• Competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championship
• Finished the regular season ranked in the national top 35 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 25 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org

Indoor national champion UW-La Crosse posted a nation-leading 16 All-Academic honorees, joining North Central (Ill.) with 12 as the only two programs with double-digit representation.

The WIAC topped the list of conferences with 41 total awards earned by its member institutions, followed by the NESCAC with 28.

Eight different men recorded a cumulative GPA of 4.0.

The full list of All-Academic selections is provided below, arranged alphabetically by team name.

2015 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals
NCAA Division III Men’s Track & Field