Five Lions Earn All-Academic Recognition

NEW ORLEANS, LA.-For the fourth consecutive season, the Mars Hill men's cross country team earned U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Team All-Academic recognition.

Five Lions earned USTFCCCA Individual All-Academic honors- Brady Adcock, Carter Benge, Eric Blackburn, Kiel Bollero and Daniel Jezioranski. This is the second-consecutive year Mars Hill has had five team members receive Individual All-Academic honors. This is the ninth time in school history MHC has earned Team All-Academic recognition. As a team, the Lions checked in with a 3.15 GPA.

Blackburn becomes the second Lion in school history to receive All-Academic honors four times. Blackburn joins James Thompson, who was honored 2002-05.

Adcock is a second-time honoree. Benge, Bollero and Jezioranksi were all first-time recipients of All-Academic status.

A total of 209 student-athletes representing 99 institutions made up the Individual All-Academic list. Mars Hill tied with Sioux Falls, Western State and Bentley for the most selections in the nation.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country team in Division II, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better through the most recent semester, completed at least 12 credit hours in the semester of cross country competition and placed in either the top 50 percent at the most recent NCAA Championship or top 30 percent at the NCAA Regional Championships.

Counting Mars Hill's representatives, 11 South Atlantic Conference student-athletes were recognized on the All-Academic Cross Country team.

A total of 88 institutions representing 21 conferences were recognized as Team All-Academic performers. To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, the team must have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better and have compiled a team score at their respective NCAA regional championship.

Six SAC schools were earned Team All-Academic Recognition.

Mars Hill captured its 16th-consecutive SAC Championship this past November. The Lions placed fourth in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship.