

2018 NCAA DI Cross Country Team Academic Awards
NEW ORLEANS – Truly well-rounded teams excel both in the classroom and in the field of competition.
That’s what the Colorado women and the BYU men did during the cross country season.
That’s also why the Buffs and the Cougars were named the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Scholar Teams of the Year on Thursday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
NCAA DIVISION I SCHOLAR TEAMS OF THE YEAR |
||||
Men’s Past Winners
|
Women’s Past Winners
|
|||
Year
|
Program
|
Year
|
Program
|
|
2017
|
Portland
|
2017
|
New Mexico
|
|
2016
|
Northern Arizona
|
2016
|
Oregon
|
|
2015
|
Syracuse
|
2015
|
New Mexico
|
|
2014
|
Stanford
|
2014
|
Michigan State
|
|
2013
|
Northern Arizona
|
2013
|
Providence
|
|
2012
|
Oklahoma State
|
2012
|
Oregon
|
|
2011
|
Wisconsin
|
2011
|
Georgetown
|
|
2010
|
Florida State
|
2010
|
Villanova
|
|
2009
|
Oklahoma State
|
2009
|
Villanova
|
|
2008
|
Iona
|
2008
|
Washington
|
|
2007
|
Iona
|
2007
|
Stanford
|
|
2006
|
Iona
|
2006
|
Stanford
|
Colorado and BYU earned this honor by being the top finishing team from their gender with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The Buffs won the women’s team title this past November in Madison, Wisconsin, while the Cougars finished runner-up to Northern Arizona.
This is the first time in program history that Colorado has been named NCAA Division I Cross Country Scholar Team of the Year. The Buffs are the fourth women’s program from the Pac-12 Conference to earn this distinction, joining Oregon, Stanford and Washington.
Colorado romped to the team title at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course a few months ago. The Buffs, led by Dani Jones’ individual title, scored just 65 points as they had six runners finish in the top-40 and earn All-America honors.
This is also the first time in program history that BYU has been named NCAA Division I Cross Country Scholar Team of the Year.
The Cougars had four men finish in the top-40 to earn All-America honors, paced by Conner Mantz in 10th place. Rory Linkletter and Connor McMillan weren’t too far behind in 22nd and 24th place, respectively.
Overall, there were 427 teams that earned All-Academic distinction. Radford University’s women had the best GPA of the bunch at 3.87, while Southern Illinois University had the best GPA out of any men’s team at 3.67.
See below for a full list of teams honored by the USTFCCCA.