USTFCCCA recognizes Bearkats for strong year
7/28/2016 6:31:00 PM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
A total of six Sam Houston State student-athletes were recognized as U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honorees, an award designated to those who excel both on the course and in the classroom, the organization announced Thursday.
Along with the individual accolades, the entire women's team was also honored. The group, which won both the Southland Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships, posted a 3.08 GPA to earn Team All-Academic honors.
“The atmosphere we had when I first took over and the overall atmosphere now it shows,” head coach David Self said. “You're around these kids and they take everything they do seriously. We don't have some major team rules we have some major expectations.”
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have met at least one of the follow academic standards:
For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.
For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary round).
This year's Sam Houston honorees included Tyler Adams and Kalvin Singletary on the men's side as well as Ruth Amaku, Courtney Lord, Tristyn Allen and Elizabeth Lyssy for the men.
“It all goes to who we are as a program,” Self said. “We're going to win and have some great championships but it's about getting your degree first and foremost. Most of kids are at the top of their game both athletically and academically.”
Adams, who was named Southland Conference Outdoors Student-Athlete of the Year, helped the Bearkats to take the team championship indoor as well as runner-up outdoors, winning the decathlon while 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.
Singletary was an automatic selection to the All-Academic Southland Conference Team 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.
Amaku posted a 3.54 GPA in health sciences while being named First-Team All-Southland as a member of the 4x400-meter relay squad both indoors and outdoors. The senior took runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles (58.82) at the outdoor championships.
Lyssy was All-Southland as a runner-up in the javelin (149 feet, 4 inches) outdoors and as a Dean's List student, posted a 3.74 GPA in accounting. The San Antonio native was the javelin champion at the UH Yokubaitus Invitational and took the runner-up spot at four other events.
Meanwhile, Lord has accumulated a 3.53 cumulative GPA while majoring in criminal justice. The sophomore took third in the high jump at the Southland Outdoor Championships as well as placed fourth in the hepathlon which included the top spot in the high jump.
Allen has earned a 3.38 GPA during her time at Sam Houston. Like Lord, the freshman earned her way to the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round and took fifth in the long jump at the league championships as well as eighth in the triple jump.
