ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? The cross country regular season is over for the Indiana State Sycamores and three have been honored for their achievements in the classroom and on the course, as Scott Keeney, Kayla Alexander and Heather Stembridge have all been named Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athletes. The Missouri Valley Conference announced the scholar-athlete teams on Wednesday following the completion of the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship last weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa, at the Pheasant Ridge Golf Course last weekend.
In order to be eligible to be named scholar-athlete they must have finished among the first 20 runners at the conference championship and hold a cumulative 3.0 GPA. They must also be a sophomore in athletic and academic standing to earn a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team.
Sophomore Scott Keeney was not only named to the scholar-athlete team, but was also named an all-conference selection after placing seventh overall (24:50) at the championships. The Frankfort, Ind., native also garnered scholar-athlete honors for that performance, in conjunction with his 3.96 cumulative GPA in mathematics at Indiana State. He was one of 10 athletes named to the team.
The ISU women's team had two representatives on the Valley's scholar-athlete teams in Alexander and Stembridge, as they joined 12 other student-athletes on the list. Alexander led the Sycamores in every race throughout the season and last weekend's championships were no different. The Terre Haute, Ind., native was the top ISU finisher in the race in 11th place which also earned her a scholar-athlete nod because of a 3.20 GPA in special education. Stembridge earned a spot on the team, after placing 15th in the championships last weekend. The junior from Evansville, Ind., also does well in the classroom with a 3.07 GPA in elementary education.
Both the men's and women's teams will take a break this weekend, before taking the course on November 10 in Bloomington, Ind., at the Great Lakes Regional meet.
