Heath earns USTFCCCA All-Academic status
NEW ORLEANS – Lake Superior State sophomore Taylor Heath added USTFCCCA All-Academic honors to his list of accomplishments during the 2011-12 cross country season.
Heath (Hanover, Mich.) is one of 20 male representatives from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to earn United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association recognition. A total of 208 student-athletes represent the 101 institutions that compose the group. Bentley, Central Missouri, and Mars Hill led all squads with five named to the All-Academic list. Another 13 schools had four named to the roll. Among conferences, the PSAC had the most named to the list with 27. The Northeast-10 and GLIAC followed with 21 and 20, respectively.
Four of the top six finishers from the national championship earned All-Academic nods.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team in Division II, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or greater through the most-recent semester, completed at least 12 credit hours in the semester of cross country competition, and placed in the top 50 percent at the most recent NCAA National Championships or in the top 30 percent at the NCAA Regional Championships.
Heath has a 3.710 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering. He earned All-NCAA Great Lakes Region honors after placing 20th in the 2011 regional held in Big Rapids, Mich. He also placed 20th at the GLIAC Championships last Fall. During the regular season, he was eighth in an early-season pre-regional, 25th in the Roy Griak (the nation’s largest cross country race held in Minneapolis, Minn.) and first in the Upper Peninsula Championships.
LSSU cross country coach Steve Eles noted that Heath was within 30 seconds of qualifying for the national championships on a 10K course.
“Taylor’s sophomore season was a tremendous success,” said Eles, who noted that the Laker men’s team is also expected to earn academic all-America status. “He was a key factor in every race he ran this fall. I am very proud of what Taylor accomplished this season on the cross country course. However, I am more impressed by his academic success where he has a 3.710 GPA in the very demanding field of mechanical engineering. He is truly one of the best student-athletes I have ever coached.”
