USTFCCCA Scholar Athletes

NEW ORLEANS - The Shippensburg University men's cross country team had two of its runners selected on Thursday afternoon to the 2009 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic squad based on their success from this past cross country season as well as their classroom merits.

It is the second consecutive year that junior Bryan Beegle, a criminal justice major, and sophomore Stephen Schelander, an economics major, were rewarded for their academic success after a stellar season in which both thrived at the regional championships.

To qualify for All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least 12 semester/quarter hours through the semester of competition at the institution to be eligible. The student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and have placed in the top 30% of the total number of athletes eligible to compete at the respective regional championships or have placed in the top 50% of the field at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

The 152 USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees represent 78 schools around the country. The list includes nine who were reported to have 4.0 GPAs at the end of the 2009 fall semester: Matt Braithwaite of Augustana (S.D.), Chris Lantinen of Edinboro, Matt Rutt of Indiana (Pa.), Jacob Stucky of Lenoir-Rhyne, Jesse Baggenstos of Northwest Nazarene, Simon Stuetzel of Queens (N.C.), Jordan Kirwen of Findlay, Micah Chelimo of Alaska, and Kevin Clancy of UNC Pembroke.