NEW ORLEANS, La. – Both Carson-Newman track and field programs, as well as three athletes have been lauded for their efforts in the class room and on the track with USTFCCCA All-Academic Awards.
On the men's side, Luke Greer and Kristofer Potts-Howard were recognized, while on the women's side Samantha Gudger picked up the accolade. Gudger and Potts-Howard were both repeat honorees. The men's program was recognized as a whole with its 3.02 GPA, while the women's program picked up recognition with a 3.53 GPA.
This marks the fifth straight year the women's team has laid claim to the honor, while it's the fourth time in five years the men have been recognized.
Including the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 312 men and 448 women earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors during the 2018-19 track & field seasons.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic award, student-athletes must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have reached a provisional or automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships in either the indoor or outdoor season.
"This award is a wonderful punctuation mark to a fantastic season," Carson-Newman Director of Track and Field David Needs said. "So proud of this team. To be successful on the track as a team is important but to recruit and retain athletes who maintain the highest academic standard is part of our mission. For Kris, Luke, and Samantha to be both great students and national qualifiers says a lot about their well-roundedness. They represent our university well."
The accolade is the third academic honor for six-time All-American Luke Greer. He finished his undergraduate degree with a 3.67 GPA and carries a 4.0 in his master's program. Greer put a bow on his Carson-Newman career with a stellar showing at outdoor nationals. He earned All-America honors with fifth place finish in the 10K run before closing his career with second team accolades and 11th place finish in the 5K run.
Gudger provisionally qualified in the long jump while Potts-Howard competed at nationals and brought home second team All-America honors with a 12th place finish in the long jump.
He came up .07 meters short of his lifetime best leap with a 7.41-meter mark on his second attempt. That jump was just .27 meters away from putting him in the finals.
Potts-Howard cleared 7.32 meters on his first attempt before hitting 7.41 on his second. He faulted on his third.