Adams, Kats honored for athletics, academics
6/21/2016 1:01:00 PM | Track & Field
HUNTSVILLE – Five Sam Houston State men were named to the 2016 Southland Conference Cross Country and Track and Field All-Academic Team, highlighted by Outdoor Student-Athlete of the Year Tyler Adams, the league office announced Tuesday.
Adams was joined by Kalvin Singletary, Evan Arambula, Dylan Elliott and Garrett Larson as Sam Houston tied Abilene Christian with five athletes, the most among the conference on the squad.
“It just shows we're on top of the board in two aspects,” head coach David Self said. “We like to think we have the best men's team in the Southland Conference and we obviously have the best academic performers. That's a testament to our coaching staff and the athletes they are bringing in.”
After capturing the league's indoor championship, Adams helped the Bearkats to take runner-up outdoors, winning the decathlon, scoring a total of 7,259 points in the 10 events. The Oakwood native claimed the long jump, high jump and 100-meter hurdles.
Off the track, Adams maintained a 3.46 grade point average while majoring in electric/computer engineering technology. The sophomore has made the Dean's List six consecutive semesters and also serves as the track representative on the Sam Houston Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Since 2007, 21 Bearkats have earned recognition as their individual sport's student-athlete of the year a total of 24 times. The award is the third for the Sam Houston men's track program and first since Chris Cralle received the accolade in 2011.
“We've just tried to get better students athletes and people and you've seen that with the type of men and women we're bringing in here,” Self said. “They are people you want to be around. Tyler exemplifies that. He's got a great attitude and is the kind of guy that makes the job easy.”
Meanwhile, Arambula was named All-Southland Conference after finishing runner-up at the outdoor meet in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Eustace product boasts a 3.72 cumulative GPA and is majoring in human resource management.
Singletary joined the all-academic squad as an automatic selection after being named First-Team All-Southland outdoors as league champion in the hammer throw (196 feet, 7 inches). The junior is majoring in criminal justice and has a 3.34 GPA.
Elliott received the accolade after a tremendous effort in the classroom that included a 3.87 GPA in psychology. The sophomore, who appeared on the Dean's List, finished ninth in the decathlon outdoors and well as heptathlon indoors.
Larson was All-Southland Conference both indoors and outdoors and took third at the league's outdoor meet with a pole vault of 17 feet, 4 ½ inches. As a Dean's List student, the Brenham native posted a 3.11 GPA while majoring in construction management.
To be nominated for the all-academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative grade point average, have completed at least one full academic year at the nominating institution and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition.
“The expectations are posted on our walls and talked about on our official visits,” Self said. “It's not something we just say we're interested in academics; it's a huge part of what we do. We'll talk about running fast and jumping high bars but our number one job as a coaching staff is to help you graduate college.”
To be considered for student-athlete of the year, the individual must have earned a 3.2 GPA, demonstrated athletic achievement for at least two years of competition, including the current season, at the nominating institution.
2015-16 ACADEMIC ALL-SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE MEN'S TRACK TEAM
|
Name |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major |
|
Sam Houston |
So. |
3.39 |
Engineering Technology |
|
|
Albert Maeder |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
3.96 |
Biology |
|
Garrison Fick |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
3.93 |
Business Administration |
|
Stu Ferguson |
Lamar |
Gr. |
3.66 |
Kinesiology |
|
Alex Dunbar |
Lamar |
Gr. |
3.33 |
Kinesiology |
|
Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.34 |
Criminal Justice |
|
|
Alexander Young |
Southeastern La. |
Sr. |
3.81 |
Kinesiology |
|
Lucas Atkins |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
3.17 |
Kinesiology |
|
Philipp Baar |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Gr. |
3.71 |
Management |
|
Luke Woods |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
3.83 |
Engineering |
|
Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.72 |
Human Resource Management |
|
|
Kerry Gleason |
Stephen F. Austin |
So. |
3.45 |
Kinesiology |
|
Oliver James |
McNeese |
Jr. |
3.68 |
Biological Sciences |
|
Kai Schmidt |
Abilene Christian |
So. |
3.64 |
Financial Management |
|
Daven Murphree |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
3.72 |
Kinesiology |
|
Reid Rivers |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
3.96 |
Vocational Ministry |
|
Jacob Ulbricht |
UIW |
Jr. |
3.73 |
History |
|
Keaton Hart |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
3.87 |
Kinesiology |
|
John Lemke |
McNeese |
Jr. |
3.23 |
Accounting |
|
Enock Bor |
McNeese |
Sr. |
3.55 |
Mathematics |
|
Sam Houston |
So. |
3.87 |
Psychology |
|
|
Grant Williams |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
3.59 |
Biology |
|
David Carrillo |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
4.00 |
Kinesiology |
|
Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.11 |
Construction Management |
|
|
Will Maraggia |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
So. |
3.80 |
Business |
|
Jelani Rainey |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
3.02 |
Engineering |
