March 5, 2009

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Ohio men's and women's cross country squads were named Division I United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academic All-America Teams Thursday. The men's 3.296 team grade point average ranked it 38th in the nation out of 315 teams, while the women's 3.564 GPA placed it 20th amongst all 394 nationwide squads.

The men sported the highest-ranked team GPA from the MAC, while the women finished third amongst league teams. This was the third-straight year both teams have earned the national honor.

For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Meet.  The team must also have a minimum 3.00 team cumulative grade point average.

This season, Ohio also had four student-athletes earn Academic All-MAC honors (Annie Beecham, Kari Summers, Chris Davis and Shamus Eaton).

Juniors Beecham (Granville, Ohio) and Summers (Troy, Ohio) also earned individual All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA. They were two of four MAC representatives on the list out of 76 individual honorees. Both had tremendous seasons for the Bobcats, as they rewrote Ohio's record books. Beecham, a journalism major, claimed the MAC individual championship in MAC-record time, while Summers finished as the MAC runner-up. The nutrition with science major also owns the school record for the 6k, set at Pre-Nationals. Both runners qualified for the NCAA National Championship, the first time an Ohio women's runner has done so since 1998.

On the men's side, Eaton (Uniontown, Ohio), a senior journalism major, had a career year in his final season. He ran his best time in the MAC Championship and finished eighth, earning him second-team All-MAC honors. He finished 21st at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and narrowly missed qualifying for Nationals.

Davis (Reedsville, Ohio), a redshirt sophomore majoring in industrial systems engineering, also ran a season-best time at the MAC Championship and placed 33rd. He finished in the top 50 at the All-Ohio Championships and finished in Ohio's top five three times.