By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The men's and women's track and field squads from Willamette University have qualified for All-Academic Team honors for the 2019 season as awarded by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Willamette's teams have consistently earned these awards under Head Coach Matt McGuirk.
The USTFCCCA honored 184 women's track and field teams and 113 men's track and field teams in NCAA Division III for their academic success. Each All-Academic team attained at least a 3.0 cumulative team grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
The Willamette women's team achieved All-Academic recognition with a 3.43 cumulative GPA. The Bearcat men's team recorded a 3.22 cumulative GPA. Six men's teams in the Northwest Conference and seven of eight women's teams from the NWC received the award.
St. Vincent College (Pa.) topped the list of All-Academic Division III women's teams with a 3.79 cumulative GPA. California Institute of Technology led Division III men's teams with a 3.69 cumulative GPA.
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was chosen as the Men's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Team of the Year after winning the NCAA men's championship and recording a 3.18 cumulative GPA. The Women's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Team of the Year was Loras College (Iowa), which won the NCAA women's championship and earned a 3.37 cumulative GPA.
Scholar Team of the Year honors go to the men's team and the women's team placing the highest at the most recent NCAA Championships while also earning All-Academic status.
Willamette's track and field teams were represented at the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships by Hope Duenas (Jr., Covina, CA/Covina HS), Keaton Beckmann (So., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) and Keith Carlson (Sr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS). Duenas placed 11th in the women's discus, Beckmann was 11th in the men's decathlon, and Carlson placed 13th in the men's 5,000-meter run.
NOTE: Academic years listed for Duenas, Beckmann, and Carlson are for the 2019 season.