Four Bulldogs Named USTFCCCA All-Academic
Big Rapids, Mich. - Four members of the Ferris State University
men's and women's track and field program have been honored as 2010
United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association
(USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team selections in an announcement made by
the USTFCCCA.
The Bulldog selections included senior men's pole vaulter
Greg Burns along with junior distance runner
Tina Muir and a pair of women's freshmen distance
runners in Alyssa Osika and Anna
Rudd.
A total of 276 women from 72 institutions were tapped as USTFCCCA
All-Academic honorees while a total of 156 student-athletes
representing 59 institutions comprised the men's group.
The USTFCCCA honors Division II individuals for their academic and
athletic achievements during the indoor and outdoor track and field
season. 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 the NCAA Division II Indoor or
Outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard in their
respective event.
Burns claimed
All-America accolades at the 2010 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and
Field Championships by matching a personal career-best effort and
finishing sixth overall with a performance of 16-3.25 in the
event. He became only the third FSU men's track and field
athlete since 1993 to claim either indoor or outdoor All-America
accolades by being named to the USTFCCCA Division II All-America
squad.
A two-year letterwinner, Burns made his first appearance this
season in the NCAA D-II Championships after winning the pole vault
and picking up All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(GLIAC) laurels at the GLIAC Indoor Championships with a
school-record showing (16-3.25). Burns placed among the top 10
finishers in the pole vault in all nine of his indoor meets this
year and came away with four individual titles and two runner-up
finishes. He was a recipient of the GLIAC Commissioner's Award for
the winter sports season.
Muir capped off a
stellar cross country season last fall by being named to the
USTFCCCA Division II All-America Team following her performance in
the 2009 NCAA-II National Championships (Nov. 21) in Evansville,
Ind., where she claimed All-America accolades for the second
consecutive campaign with a second-straight 12th-place performance
in helping the Bulldogs run to a 11th-place team finish while tying
for the second-highest finish in school history. Muir led the
Bulldogs at the national championships by completing the 6K course
in a time of 21:11.0 among 184 runners in the field.
Muir, who was this year's NCAA-II Midwest Regional Cross Country
Athlete of the Year by virtue of her regional individual
championship performance, won all five of her cross country races
last fall prior to the national championships and was also selected
as the GLIAC Runner of the Year after winning the conference
title. Twice last fall, she also attained the GLIAC Runner of
the Week honor.
A two-time cross country All-American, Muir also earned the
prestigious GLIAC Commissioner's Award for the fall semester and
was a league all-academic team selection in both cross country
along with track and field. She made her second-straight
appearance at the national indoor track and field championships
this winter where she came up just short of earning All-America
kudos in the women's 5,000 meters with a 12th-place overall
(17:28.90) performance.
Osika was tabbed
as the Bulldog women's track MVP for the 2010 season during her
initial collegiate campaign. She finished sixth overall in the 800
meters (2:20.60) during the final round of the event at the 2010
GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by FSU (May 5-7)
at Top Taggart Field. Osika also captured sixth place in the mile
run (5:02.29) with a national provisional qualifying time at the
GLIAC Indoor Championships (Feb. 26-27) this year in Allendale,
Mich.
Meanwhile, Rudd
placed eighth overall in the finals of the 5,000 meters (18:01.69)
at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships this past season. Both
Osika and Rudd were also members of FSU's national-qualifying cross
country team in 2009.
Click Here For The USTFCCCA All-Academic Men's
Release
Click Here For The USTFCCCA All-Academic Women's
Release