McNeill, Whiting Add More Honors with Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards

NEW ORLEANS – David McNeill (Northern Arizona) and Ryan Whiting (Arizona State) were named on Thursday as Scholar Athletes of the Year in Division I for the 2010 track & field seasons by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The duo represents collegiate track & field’s best in both athletics and academics. In addition, 357 were tapped as USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees.

Past All-Academic Honorees

Scholar Athletes 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.

Indoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year/Outdoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year –
David McNeill, Northern Arizona

McNeill, a native of Melbourne, Australia, won NCAA titles in the 5000 meters at both the indoor and outdoor national championships this year, becoming only the sixth in NCAA history to do so. McNeill, who tallied a 3.78 cumulative GPA in exercise science, was also named by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® of the Year for their University division of men’s track and field/cross country.

Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year/Outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year –
Ryan Whiting, Arizona State

Whiting, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., won NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in the shot put for the second-straight year, becoming the first in NCAA history to win both crowns in back-to-back years. Whiting, a finalist for The Bowerman, carried a 3.46 cumulative GPA in civil engineering while at ASU. Whiting won this same award for the 2008 indoor season and is part of a three-year streak of Sun Devils capturing the Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year honor. Teammate Jason Lewis earned the honor for the 2009 indoor season.

Past Winners

Indoor Track & Field (track athlete)
2010: David McNeill, Northern Arizona
2009: Galen Rupp, Oregon
2008: Jason Richardson, South Carolina

Indoor Track & Field (field athlete)
2010: Ryan Whiting, Arizona State
2009: Jason Lewis, Arizona State
2008: Ryan Whiting, Arizona State

Indoor Track & Field (single award)
2007: Brad Gebauer, McNeese State

Outdoor Track & Field (track athlete)
2010: David McNeill, Northern Arizona
2009: Galen Rupp, Oregon
2008: Jason Richardson, South Carolina

Outdoor Track & Field (field athlete)
2010: Ryan Whiting, Arizona State
2009: Scott Sellers, Kansas State
2008: Cory Martin, Auburn

Outdoor Track & Field (single award)
2007: Barnabas Kirui, Mississippi

357 Earn All-Academic Status

In addition to the Scholar Athletes of the Year, the USTFCCCA also announced the men’s 2010 Division I All-Academic Track & Field team. A record total of 357 student-athletes representing 118 institutions compose the group. Stanford led all squads with 12 earning All-Academic status. Minnesota and BYU followed with 10 mentions. The Pac-10 led the conference order with 45 with the Big Ten coming next at 37.

National champions Lee Emanuel (New Mexico), Scott Roth (Washington), Marquise Goodwin (Texas), and Craig Kinsley (Brown) joined those who won Scholar Athlete of the Year honors as All-Academic honorees.

Nine All-Academic honorees were reported to have cumulative GPAs of 4.0 and above.

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 met either the NCAA Division I Indoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard or participated in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships (including preliminary rounds) in their respective event.

Those institutions given All-Academic Team status will be named on Monday, August 2 (men) and Tuesday, August 3 (women).

USTFCCCA 2010 Division I Track & Field All-Academic Honorees, MEN