The Oklahoma State men's cross country team was named the cross country scholar team of the year, it was announced Monday, Feb. 25, 2013.
The honor was given by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association after the team posted a 3.203 grade point average for the fall semester. Oklahoma State did not have the highest GPA, but it won the national championship last fall, which was a contributing factor.
Scholar Teams of the year are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest as a team at the most recent NCAA Championships, a press release said.
Oklahoma State won the NCAA Cross Country Championship title this fall – its third in four years. Coach Dave Smith was also named coach of the year. The Cowboys won with 72 points and had a 63-point edge over runner up Wisconsin.
Senior Girma Mecheso led the Cowboys with a fifth-place individual finish as one of Oklahoma State’s four All-Americans. Junior Tom Farrell (ninth), junior Shadrack Kipchirchir (18th) and junior Joseph Manilafasha (24th) also earned All-America honors from the USTFCCCA.
Memphis had the highest team GPA at 3.65 and Chattanooga was second at 3.64. There were 141 schools that earned academic all american status. To qualify a team must have a 3.0 GPA.
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