Senior Stephen Leonard posted top-10 finishes in both the Northeast-10 and East Region Championships in 2013. |
Three Skyhawks collect individual All-Academic honors
Fontanella |
Leonard |
Wilcox |
EASTON, Mass. (February 17, 2014) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team has been named a 2013 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team, it was announced last week. Additionally, three Stonehill student-athletes earned individual All-Academic awards from the USTFCCCA.
Stonehill recently completed a successful cross country season that included its third straight Northeast-10 Championship, first East Region title since 2007, and 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. Stonehill also excelled in the classroom, compiling a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 in 2013. To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, the squad must have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher and have earned a score (finished at least five runners) at its respective NCAA regional championship. The team was one of 92 men's programs recognized, and Stonehill was one of 89 institutions that had both its men's and women's cross country programs honored.
Individually, seniors Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) and Stephen Leonard (Chatham, N.J./Chatham), and junior Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) collected All-Academic Awards from the USTFCCCA. To be eligible for this honor, student-athletes must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher and must have finished among the top-30 percent of total eligible runners at their regional championship, or in the top half of the field at the NCAA Championships. Stonehill's three representatives were among 212 total men's cross country student-athletes honored by the USTFCCCA.
Fontanella earns his second career USTFCCCA All-Academic award after being recognized as a sophomore in 2011, the same year he was also the recipient of a Division II Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Academic Achievement award. The senior captain was recently named to the Northeast-10 All-Academic team for the third time, and he has earned a cumulative 3.71 GPA as a criminology and psychology double major at Stonehill. Fontanella's best effort this season came in the Northeast-10 Championship on October 27th, when he earned All-Conference second team honors after placing 8th overall in 25:49.
Wilcox was one of two Stonehill runners to register both All-Conference and All-East Region performances this past fall, while also collecting NE-10 All-Academic team honors for the third time in his career. The junior captain placed 14th in 26:03 at the NE-10 Championship, and 11th in 32:19.6 at the East Region Championship, and he wrapped up his season by competing in his second consecutive NCAA Championship. Wilcox has earned a 3.65 cumulative GPA as an accounting major at Stonehill and has been named to a combined nine NE-10 and Athletic Director's honor rolls.
Like Wilcox, Leonard also had two of his best efforts of the 2013 season at the NE-10 and East Region Championships. The senior earned All-Conference first team accolades after placing seventh overall in 25:48 at the NE-10 Championship, and he followed that up with another top-10 performance, placing ninth at the East Region Championship in 32:07, good for All-Region honors. The biology major has earned a 3.37 cumulative GPA while being named to a combined eight NE-10 and Athletic Director's honor rolls.
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