Three Skyhawks collect individual All-Academic accolades
EASTON, Mass. (March 4, 2016) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team has earned All-Academic honors for the 2015 season from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), while three Skyhawks collected individual All-Academic accolades.
Juniors Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport), and Tyler Henseler (Coventry, Rhode Island/Bishop Hendricken), and freshman Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial) were recognized for posting a 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.
Santo |
Dowd |
Henseler |
Stonehill was among 104 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 posted a runner-up finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, before following that up with a third place showing at the East Region Championships. The Skyhawks capped the 2015 season with their 13th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. Academically, Stonehill registered a 3.15 cumulative GPA through the fall semester. Santo and Dowd led the way with their selections to the NE-10 Academic All-Conference team.
Santo earns his second career USTFCCCA All-Academic award after being recognized as a sophomore in 2014. The Newburyport, Massachusetts native was recently named to the NE-10 All-Conference second team for the second straight year after finishing in tenth place with a time of 25:44.7. He has earned a 3.32 cumulative GPA as a marketing major at Stonehill. Santo ran to a 56th place finish at the East Regional Championship on November 8th, with a time of 33:38.8, and competed at the NCAA Division II National Championship on November 21st.
Dowd earns USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition following a successful freshman campaign in which he earned All-Conference honors for the first time in his career before competing in his first NCAA Championship meet. He earned a 3.63 GPA during his first semester at Stonehill and is currently undecided on a major. Dowd turned in an impressive sixth-place finish in the season-opening Shacklette Invitational, before placing 16th the following weekend at the DII/DIII Kutztown Challenge. He posted a time of 33:29.4 at the East Region Championships, good for 51st overall, and capped his season with a career-best ten-kilometer time 32:14.3, good for 168th-place at the NCAA Championships.
Rounding out Stonehill's All-Academic honorees for the 2015 season is Henseler, who is being honored with his second career USTFCCCA All-Academic award. Henseler has posted a cumulative GPA of 3.38 as a history major at Stonehill and competed in his second East Region and NCAA Championship meets. The Coventry, Rhode Island native has been placed on a combined seven NE-10 and Athletic Director's honor rolls during his career at Stonehill.
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