USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams  |  USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals
 
NEW ORLEANS – The Slippery Rock University women's cross country team and all seven individual runners from the Atlantic Region Championships have earned All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
 
In order for a team to earn the All-Academic recognition, the cumulative GPA for the entire roster must be 3.0 or above following the fall semester of competition. The Rock compiled a team GPA of 3.715 following the fall semester, which ranked No. 3 in the PSAC behind only Clarion and Seton Hill and ranked No. 20 among all women's XC teams in Division II.
 
In addition to the entire team being honored, all seven of The Rock's individual runners that competed at the Atlantic Region Championships were recognized, including Marianne Abdalah, Jennifer Cichra, Ruthie Hughes, Anna Igims, Steph Keelon, Madison Murtland and Katie Plassio.  In order to earn the individual honor, a student-athlete must maintain above a 3.25 cumulative GPA and finish in the top 30 percent of all eligible runners at the NCAA Regional Championships.
 
Abdalah, Igims, Keelon, Murtland and Plassio all picked up their second straight All-Academic honor after also being recognized last fall, while Cichra and Hughes were honored for the first time in their first year of eligibility.
 
Abdalah, a graduate student in the physician's assistant program with a perfect 4.0 GPA, not only led SRU academically but she also led the team on the course, earning All-Region honors with a fifth place finish at regionals and locking up one of three individual qualifying spots to compete at the National Championships. She became the first SRU female runner to compete at nationals in back-to-back years since 2010.
 
Igims, a health and physical education major, also earned All-Region honors with a 10^th place finish at the Atlantic Region Championships. Cichra, a mechanical engineering major, was the third scorer for SRU in 41^st place, followed by Murtland, a health and physical education major, in 49^th place, Hughes, a psychology major, in 50^th place, Keelon, an early childhood and special education major, in 57^th place and Plassio, an early childhood and special education major, in 82^nd place.
 
Slippery Rock placed fourth at the Atlantic Regional Championships as a team, missing out on a team berth at nationals by just 11 points.
 
 

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