Ten Purdue track & field student-athletes have been named All-Academic Athletes, while both the men’s and women’s programs earned All-Academic Team accolades as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its academic awards on Thursday.
Purdue’s 10 All-Academic Athletes are seniors Jaret Carpenter (majoring in biochemistry), Rebecca Coan (health science pre professional), Myia Dorsey (psychological sciences), Jaden Mattox (management / marketing) and Brody Smith (sociology), juniors Curt Eckstein (mechanical engineering), Kyle Griffith (civil engineering), sophomore Jessica Bray (health science pre professional), redshirt freshman Johnny Vanos (kinesiology) and freshman Kerris Roberts (accounting).
The Boilermaker men’s and women’s track & field programs both earned All-Academic Team distinctions for the second consecutive season and the women were honored for the eighth year in a row. The women’s team boasted a 3.28 cumulative GPA in 2019-20, while the men earned a 3.05. Purdue’s cross country squads also earned All-Academic Team recognition earlier this year.
Both the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs have been recognized in both of coach Norbert Elliott’s two seasons at the helm. 2018-19 and 2019-20 marks the first time Purdue earned all four All-Academic Team accolades in back-to-back seasons since a three-year stretch from 2012-13 to 2014-15.
Carpenter has been named an All-Academic Athlete all four years as a Boilermaker, while this is the third honor for Coan and Eckstein. Dorsey, Mattox and Smith were recognized for the second time in their track & field careers and Bray, Griffith, Roberts and Vanos earned their first All-Academic Athlete award.
Additionally, Carpenter, Eckstein and Smith were named All-Academic Athletes following the conclusion of the 2019 cross country campaign.
The USTFCCCA recognizes teams with an average cumulative GPA of at least a 3.0 among all student-athletes on the 2019-20 roster. For individual accolades, student-athletes must boast a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25, have completed at least two semesters at their current institution and finish in the top 96 in any championship event or in the top 48 in any championship relay event during the 2019-20 indoor season.
In total, the USTFCCCA honored 659 women from 178 schools and 452 men from 126 schools with individual awards, while 264 women’s programs and 199 men’s squads were recognized with team accolades.
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