NEW ORLEANS – Seven Roadrunners of the Metropolitan State University of Denver cross country team were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association recently for excellence in both athletics and academics as they were named to the organization's all-academic team.
Seniors Sabrina Rautter, Erica Ruiz and Mali Smith capped off their MSU Denver careers with Rautter earning her second honor in as many years while Ruiz and Smith both earned their first.
Sophomore Alden Gruidel was additionally named to the All-Academic Team for the second time. Freshman Vanessa Kort rounded out the quintet of Roadrunners on the women's side with her first inclusion on the list.
Meanwhile, on the men's side, the twosome of junior Samuel Berg and sophomore Jacob Link represented MSU Denver. This marks Berg's second time earning this honor and Link's first.
The five women and two men were among the 649 student-athletes who earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, consisting of 379 women and 270 men.
Student-athletes must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.25 and finish among the top 30 percent of runners at his or her respective regional championship or in the top 50 percent of the competitors at the NCAA Championship meet in order to qualify.
MSU Denver's teams were also named to their respective USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams for their work in the classroom. The Roadrunners women's team has a composite GPA of 3.29, while the men posted a composite GPA of 3.18. There were 427 teams – 231 women and 196 men – who were recognized.
Rautter, a sports management and marketing student, finished 14th overall at the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, with a time of 23 minutes, 0.5 seconds. She had her best result and time at the FHSU Tiger Open in which she had a second-place showing.
Ruiz, an exercise science student, was 87th at the NCAA Championships (24:19.4). She also finished sixth at the FHSU Tiger Open and had a runner-up result at the UCCS Rust Buster. Smith, who is a biology student, had quality showings in the NCAA Championships (25:35.8/191st), the FHSU Tiger Open (29th) and the UCCS Rust Buster (19th).
Gruidel, a human development student, was 158th at the NCAA Championships (25:09.7) and took third at the UCCS Rust Buster, while Kort, a biology student, finished 228th (26:18.3) and 17th in those respective competitions.
Berg, an event and meeting management student, was 26th at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships (32:05.9) and was second at the UCCS Rust Buster.
Link, a history student, had a 32nd-place showing at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships (32:21.9) and a third-place result at the UCCS Rust Buster (25:48.0). However, his best time of the season was at the Nov. 3 RMAC Championships where he crossed the finish line at the 25:31.8 reading.
