NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Late last week, the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the organization's 2019 XC Team Academic Award recipients, tabbing the both the Nicholls State University men's and women's cross country squads to prestigious honor roll. Over the course of the past two semesters, the women's team managed to post an average 3.22 GPA while the men notched a 3.30 GPA, joining 428 other NCAA Division I programs (men's & women's combined) overall on the recipient list.

The USTFCCCA Team Academic Award aims to highlight men's and women's collegiate programs who display high levels of consistent excellence in the classroom, honoring squads who maintain an average 3.0 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. For the Colonels, earning the awards represents the third consecutive time for the women's squad and second for the men, all under head coach Stefanie Slekis.

"I am extremely proud of our team's continued dedication to doing well in the classroom," Slekis said. "We have a lot of bright young men and women on our teams in challenging majors and they continue to push themselves and each other to perform at the highest level they are capable of. I strongly believe there is a direct correlation to how dedicated you are in your academics to your success in our sport. Cross Country is a sport of diligence and being willing to put in the work to prepare when no one is checking up on you and follow through on the little things that keep you healthy and ready to train hard. For our team, it is important to have student-athletes who have that same mindset with their academics and, as a coach, I work to prepare them not only to compete to their best ability, but also to prepare for what they want to do with their degree once they graduate. Earning this team recognition for their hard work in the classroom is an important tradition to maintain now that we have established it for both squads."

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