By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The men's and women's track and field squads from Willamette University have received All-Academic Team honors for the 2021 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.

In NCAA Division III, The USTFCCCA recognized 160 men's track and field teams and 213 women's track and field teams for their academic success. Each All-Academic team attained at least a 3.1 cumulative team grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

The Willamette men's team earned All-Academic status with a 3.45 cumulative GPA. The Bearcat women's team registered a 3.51 cumulative GPA. Seven of eight men's teams in the Northwest Conference and seven of eight women's teams from the NWC qualified for the award.

Bard College (N.Y.) topped the list of All-Academic Division III men's teams with a 3.76 cumulative GPA. Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) led Division III women's teams with a 3.829 cumulative GPA.

Wartburg College (Iowa) was named the Men's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Team of the Year after winning the NCAA men's championship and recording a 3.215 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 3.412 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 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships by Keaton Beckmann (Sr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS). Beckmann placed 15th in the decathlon.