Four Skyhawks collect individual All-Academic accolades
USTFCCCA Announces All-Academic Teams
USTFCCCA Announces All-Academic Individuals
Demeule |
Dowd |
Drace |
McNamee |
EASTON, Massachusetts, (February 15, 2019) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team has earned All-Academic honors for the 2018 season from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), while four Skyhawks collected individual All-Academic accolades, as announced by the association on Thursday. This is the 15th honor for the men's team and seventh-straight time the men have earned the recognition.
Seniors Alexander Demeule, Riley Dowd, and Christopher Drace and freshman Nickolas McNamee were recognized for posting a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher while also finishing among the top-30 percent of total eligible runners at the regional championship or in the top half of the field at the NCAA Championships.
Stonehill was among 196 men's NCAA Division II teams to earn All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA. To qualify for this award, programs must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and scored at their NCAA regional meet. The Skyhawks finished second at the NE10 Championships, only seven points separating Stonehill and champion Southern Connecticut State University. Following the Conference Championship, Stonehill won its fifth NCAA Division II East Regional Championship in program history, earning its 16th appearance at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Academically, Stonehill registered a 3.23 GPA through the fall semester.
A finance major with a 3.82 cumulative GPA, Demeule has earned four All-Academic team honors over the three seasons. Demeule has totaled five NE10 Academic All-Conference honors, including his first NE10 Sport Excellence Award this fall, over his four years at Stonehill. This year Demeule appeared in his third NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, after earning his fourth-career NCAA Division II All-East Region Team honor, and posting six top-20 results in seven meets. He has earned four NE10 All-Conference accolades after posting a career-best fourth-place finish at the NE10 Championships, while also earning his first All-New England award in the fall. During last year's indoor season, Demeule earned his first All-America honor with the 4000-meter distance medley relay, where the quartet posted a fifth-place finish. The Merrimac, Massachusetts native has collected two CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District first team honors and one CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-America third team recognition. The senior has earned one Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award. Demeule has also been tabbed on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll multiple times, while also being recognized by the college as a Lambda Epsilon Sigma and Beta Gamma Sigma Honoree.
Majoring in economics and earning a 3.79 grade-point average, Dowd has been recognized on the USTFCCCA All-Academic team three times, while earning his fourth NE10 Academic All-Conference recognition in as many years. This season, Dowd posted four top-25 finishes in six meets, including a career-best fifth place at the NE10 Championships, and appeared in his fourth NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Over his four years as a Skyhawk, Dowd has earned three NCAA Division II All-East Region honors, four NE10 All-Conference accolades and one All-New England recognition. The Peabody, Massachusetts native earned his first CoSIDA Google Cloud All-District first team honor his junior year. At Stonehill, Dowd is an Edwin H. Sutherland Criminology and Omicron Delta Epsilon Honoree and has been named to the Athletic Director's and NE10 Academic Honor Roll multiple times.
Drace finished in the top-50 of four out of the six meets this season, while earning a cumulative GPA of 3.32 and studying accounting. This is his second USTFCCCA All-Academic honor in his career. This season he ran in his second NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Previously the Franklin, New Jersey native was named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
McNamee, as a freshman earned a 3.68 GPA this semester while undeclared and earned his first USTFCCCA All-Academic team honor while finishing in the top-25 of four meets of the seven. McNamee was tabbed on the NE10 All-Conference third team with his 21st-place finish and then later crossed the finish line seventh in his first NCAA Division II East Regional Championships. This semester he was also named NE10 Rookie of the Week and his name was placed on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
The Skyhawks wrapped up the season with the program's fourth runner-up finish at the NE10 Championship with four All-Conference honorees, its fifth NCAA Division II East Region Championship with six All-East Region recognitions, and 21st at the NCAA Division II Championships with their first All-American since 2006.
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