July 29, 2010
From a USTFCCCA Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's track and field team captured four spots on the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Track & Field All-Academic team on Thursday, led by recent graduate Lance Moe, who earned the award for the second straight season.
Moe was joined on the 2010 squad by fellow graduate Eric Sparks and returning Boilermakers Bill Hardcastle and Simon Rogers. Purdue's athletes were four of 357 athletes representing 118 schools to earn scholar-athlete honors this year. Stanford University led all institutions with 12 individuals earning academic recognition, while the University of Minnesota and Brigham Young University were second with 10. The Pac-10 all conferences with 45 individual picks, while the Big Ten was second with 37. To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met either the NCAA Division I Indoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard or participated in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships (including preliminary rounds) in their respective event.
Northern Arizona's David McNeill and Arizona State's Ryan Whiting respectively swept the indoor and outdoor honors for Men's Track and Field Scholar Athletes of the Year, as McNeill won both the indoor and outdoor 5,000-meter run titles, while Whiting earned a pair of NCAA shot put championships.
Scholar Athletes are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest in individual events at the most recent NCAA Championships. Those who earn multiple individual championship titles rank higher in the tie-breaking process, and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker to establish a winner. Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes and separately for the indoor and outdoor seasons, resulting in four categories.
Those institutions given All-Academic Team status will be named on Monday, August 2 (men) and Tuesday, August 3 (women).