NEW ORELANS, La. - Four the fourth straight year both the Carson-Newman men's and women's track and field squads were named to the USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic Teams list.
The Carson-Newman men earned their fourth straight honor after compiling a team GPA cumulative GPA of 3.02. The men were lead by Kirby Logan III who finished the year with a 3.78 GPA while majoring in Religion. The men's team had 19 total members finish with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
The Carson-Newman women continued their seven year streak of making the grade, finishing this season with a cumulative 3.42 GPA. The women's team had six athletes finish the school year with a perfect 4.0 GPA as Morgan Bailey, Marlee Baker, Anslee McGlocklin, Klara Naude, Susan Nelson and Abby Owens all finished the 2020-21 academic year unblemished. A total of 22 members of the women's track & field squad finished the year with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Individually, three Eagle athletes were named to the USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic Team as Jordan Hibbert, Isaiah Kyle and Joseph Oreva all earned honors. To be named to the All-Academic Team, athletes must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.25 on a 4.0 scale through the end of the semester of competition and have achieved an automatic or provisional qualifying mark (individual or relay event) for either the indoor season or outdoor season.
Isaiah Kyle did not let his lack of competition deter him during the 2021 outdoor track season. The grad transfer from Wingate University and Morristown, Tenn. native returned home to compete for the Eagles after three years away from competition. Kyle finished the year with a 3.45 GPA while pursuing his Masters in Teaching.
Kyle shined for the Eagles this season, finishing either first or second at every event he competed at in the high jump. Kyle won the SAC Outdoor Conference Championship in the event with a jump of 2.11 meters, the 7th highest jump in the nation at the time. Kyle rewrote the record books at the 2021 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, earning the silver medal with a school record jump of 2.17 meters.
Earlier this week, Kyle was one of the school record 10 Carson-Newman track & field team members to be named to the CoSIDA All-Academic District Team.
Joseph Oreva started his career at Carson-Newman with a bang, breaking a 44 year-old record in the indoor long jump at the Buccaneer Invitational with a jump of 7.84 meters. That mark ranked first in all of Division II for the entire indoor season. The freshman from Port Harcourt, Nigeria took home All-American honors in the long jump with a fourth place finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships.
During the outdoor season, Oreva continued his dominance, winning the SAC conference championship in the long jump by 0.34 meters on an injured ankle with a jump of 7.40 meters. Oreva finished the year with a 3.50 GPA while majoring in Art.
Jordan Hibbert did a little bit of everything for the Eagles during his freshman campaign. After a solid indoor season with a pair of top-10 finishes in the 60 meter run, the Knoxville native was a member of the men's 4x100 meter relay team that won the event at the LR Bears Open with a time of 41.50 seconds. At the final meet of the year, Hibbert was a member of the men's 4x100 meter relay squad that set an NCAA provisional mark of 40.79 seconds in the event, just missing out on a chance to compete at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships. Hibbert finished the year with a 3.31 GPA while majoring in Exercise Science.
Grand Valley State took home the USTFCCCA Men's Indoor and Outdoor Scholar Team of the Year honors and the Women's Indoor Scholar Team of the Year award. Azusa Pacific won the USTFCCCA Women's Outdoor Scholar Team of the Year Award.
