Michigan, Three Individuals Earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Distinction
2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Feb. 19, 2016
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team garnered U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I All-Academic team honors for the second time in as many years under head coach Kevin Sullivan, while fifth-year senior co-captain Mason Ferlic, senior co-captain Ben Flanagan and junior/sophomore Aaron Baumgarten were also recognized with individual All-Academic recognition, the association announced on Friday (Feb. 19).
To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, the team must have had a cumulative team grade-point average of 3.00 or better and have started at least five runners at its respective NCAA regional championship. The Wolverines met that standard for the fourth time in the last five seasons, combining for a team GPA of 3.224. Syracuse, the 2015 national champion, was selected as the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men's Scholar Team of the Year.
Baumgararten, Flanagan and Ferlic, the individual conference runner-up, helped lead the Wolverines to the program's best season in more than a decade, highlighted by the team's first Big Ten title since 1998. Ferlic went on to add an individual NCAA Great Lakes Regional crown and regional athlete of the year recognition.
On the strength of Ferlic's performance, the Maize and Blue went on to secure the NCAA Great Lakes Regional title for the program's first conference-regional sweep since 1997 before finishing ninth at the NCAA Championship meet, the 10th top-10 finish in program history. Sullivan was recognized with Big Ten and Regional Coach of the Year honors as U-M had its first conference and regional titles paired with a top-10 NCAA finish since Sullivan's senior season in 1997.
To qualify for the All-Academic award, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 or better and have either earned USTFCCCA All-America status or finished in the NCAA region's top 25 (or top 10 percent) in 2015.
The Wolverine three Wolverines were joined by 86 other male student-athletes from institutions across the country. Stanford's Sean McGorty, who placed seventh at the national meet, was named the USTFCCCA Division I Cross Country Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
