BYU track, field teams recognized for grades

PROVO— The BYU men's and women's track and field teams were recognized for their hard work off the track when the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its all-academic track and field team.

The Cougar men's team had the seventh-highest combined GPA in the nation with a 3.15, while the women's team had the 13th highest (3.34). Nineteen Division I men's teams were honored and 61 women's teams.

Leading the men's team was freshman Trevor Heiner with a 4.0 GPA. He is one of only seven male athletes on the all-academic list to have a perfect GPA. He is joined by teammates Mathew Anderson, Miles Batty, Nathan Rencher, Robbie Pratt, David Pendergrass, Whitney Neves, Meelis Kosk, Jacob Gustafsson, Jason Dorais, Dustin Bybee and Bryce Bergen. The Cougar men have the most all-academic athletes of any other schools recognized.

"Not only are our athletes some of the best in the country but they are also good students," men's coach Mark Robison said. "That shows that our students are here to get a degree. If we have great athletes and they do poorly in school, or they do great in school and don't do well in their sport, we aren't doing our job."

Challis Firl posted the highest GPA for the women's team. Teammates Makenzie Iorg, Tiffany Arrhenius, Kamila Rywelska, Kelly Furr, Amy Fowler, Chelsea McKell and Amanda Lonsway also made the cut. Wichita State, Nebraska and Arizona State led the way with nine athletes each on the all-academic team. BYU, Colorado State and Purdue each had eight.

All individuals honored have a GPA above 3.2, and teams being recognized have a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.