USTFCCCA Announces Division II Men’s XC Scholar Athlete of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – For the third straight year, a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) cross country athlete has been named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year.  Adams State’s Aaron Braun is the 2008 NCAA Division II USTFCCCA Men’s Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year, announced Friday by the USTFCCCA.

Braun, a sophomore from Fort Collins, Colo. has a 3.750 cumulative GPA and is majoring in mathematics.  He was the runner-up at this year’s NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships, helping pave the way for Adams State to take home its first men’s cross country national title since 2003.

Braun was this year’s Central Regional winner and RMAC conference winner.  He was named the 2008 USTFCCCA Division II Men’s Central Region Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

Two of Braun’s championship teammates, Rueben Chebon-Mwei and Luke Cragg, joined him on the 2008 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic list.

A total of 138 Division II male student-athletes received 2008 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic honors, representing 68 Division II institutions.  Christian Brothers University, Slippery Rock University, and Western State College of Colorado placed the most student-athletes on the All-Academic list with five each.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) had the most conference student-athletes on the 2008 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic list with 29, followed by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) with 14.

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 elibigle.  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 in the top 50% of the field at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific is the 2008 NCAA Division II USTFCCCA Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Athlete of the Year.

The 2008 NCAA Division II USTFCCCA Men’s All-Academic Team