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

NEW ORLEANS – Tabor Stevens of Adams State, Brent Vogel of Central Missouri, Vegard Olstad of Western State and Garrett Grey of Ashland have been named the Scholar Athletes of the Year in Division II for the 2013 men’s track & field season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the association announced Wednesday.

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Of the 210 DII men who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the 2013 track & field season — find the full list below — these four men achieved the greatest combination of academic achievement and athletic prowess during the 2013 indoor and outdoor seasons.

Stevens, a sophomore geology major with a 3.43 cumulative grade point average, has earned the indoor track Scholar Athlete of the Year award. The native of Canon City, Colo., won the mile at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in a personal-best 4:04.10.

Adams State has now claimed three of the past five indoor track Scholar Athletes of the Year, with Aaron Braun winning the award in consecutive seasons in 2009 and 2010.

A senior biology major with a 3.78 cumulative GPA, Vogel is the indoor field Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2013 with his win in the heptathlon at the NCAA indoor championships. His winning score of 5760 set a new Division II record and obliterated by more than 300 points the previous meet record of 5456 set by Brad Gamble of Chadron State in 2011.

Vogel, a native of Jefferson City, Mo., swept the indoor and outdoor field Scholar Athlete of the Year awards in 2011, part of a three-year run by Central Missouri in the indoor field athlete category — teammate Shawn Boss was the indoor field Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2012.

Olstad, a sophomore business major with a 3.89 cumulative GPA, is the outdoor track Scholar Athlete of the Year. The native of Gjovik, Norway, won the NCAA DII outdoor title at 1500 meters in 3:55.26, edging out a field of seven that all finished within two seconds of his winning time.

A Masters of Business Administration student with a 3.532 cumulative GPA, Grey is the outdoor field Scholar Athlete of the Year. At the NCAA DII outdoor championships the native of Grahamsville, N.Y., became just the third man in DII history to record a hammer throw mark of 230 feet or more when he launched a title-winning 231-3 (70.49m) for No. 3 all-time in Division history.

Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest in individual events at the most recent NCAA Championships. Those who earn multiple individual championship titles rank 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.

Grand Valley State Tops All-Academic Individuals List with 12 Honorees; GLIAC is the Top Conference

Including to the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 210 men from 74 institutions earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for their combined efforts in competition and in the classroom. Grand Valley State is the best-represented school with 12 men who earned All-Academic honors, and the only team with double-digit recipients. Findlay, Slippery Rock and Central Missouri each had eight student-athletes earn All-Academic.

Speaking in terms of conferences, the GLIAC led all leagues with 43 total selections. The MIAA was next with 33 and the RMAC rounded out the top three with 26.

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 reached a provisional or automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships in either indoor or outdoor seasons.

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