NEW ORLEANS - The Indiana State Men's and Women's Cross Country teams and Akis Medrano have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Awards, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Thursday afternoon.
 
Senior distance star Akis Medrano was one of 267 student-athletes (111 men) to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the 2018 cross country season. In order to qualify for All-Academic distinction, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale and finish in the top-25 (or 10 percent) at the NCAA Regional Championships or as an All-American at the NCAA Championships.
 
Medrano excelled on and off the course during cross country season, placing 14th at the Great Lakes Regional with a personal-best 10K time of 31:27.40 and becoming the first Sycamore since John Mascari in 2015 to qualify for the NCAA Championships. In the classroom, Medrano recorded a cumulative GPA of 3.25 while majoring in criminology and criminal justice. He is the first Sycamore to earn All-Academic honors since Michael Disher in 2010.
 
The Sycamore men's and women's cross country teams were also named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams. In order to earn All-Academic Team honors, teams must have had a cumulative team GPA at the end of the most recent semester/quarter of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
 
For the 19th time since 1994, the ISU men earned All-Academic Team honors after completing the semester with a 3.29 GPA. The men were one of 195 men's teams to earn the honor, and their GPA was the highest ISU GPA since the 2015 cross country season. In addition to the blue and white, seven other Missouri Valley Conference teams also earned the honor including Southern Illinois (3.67, highest NCAA men's team GPA), Loyola (3.64), Northern Iowa (3.52), Illinois State (3.50), Valparaiso (3.49), Bradley (3.47) and Evansville (3.27).
 
The Indiana State women earned All-Academic honors for the 23rd time since 1994 by earning a GPA of 3.42 for the fall semester, maintaining the same average as the 2017 cross country season. In total, 232 women's team earned the honor along with an additional eight teams from the MVC including Evansville (3.59), Southern Illinois (3.56), Illinois State (3.55), Loyola (3.53), Valparaiso (3.53), Bradley (3.5), Northern Iowa (3.50) and Missouri State (3.48).
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.