Currier, XC Programs Recognized by USTFCCCA

NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released its academic awards for the 2013 cross country season today, with Goucher runner Katherine Currier (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaGuardia), as well as both the men’s and women’s teams, receiving recognition. Currier earned individual USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, while each program was honored as an All-Academic Team.

To receive individual accolades, a runner must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 or higher, and must have finished among the top 25 percent at their respective regional championships. Currier, who currently maintains a 3.48 GPA while double-majoring in education and Spanish, finished 28th out of 358 runners at the Mideast Regional Championship. That result placed her in the top eight percent of the meet’s competitors.

Currier is just the sixth Gopher to be recognized individually by the USTFCCCA since the current academic standards were put in place after the 2000 season. She is the first woman from Goucher honored since Fraley Coles in 2005.

This is the 10th time in 20 years that head coach John Caslin’s programs have each received the team honor in the same season, and the men’s and women’s teams have now been recognized a total of 29 times. To be eligible, a program must compile a grade-point average of at least 3.10, and have competed in at least five different meets with at least five different runners representing their school at each.

Goucher’s women’s program recorded a GPA of 3.36, and the Gophers have now been named an All-Academic Team for five consecutive seasons. This is the 15th time overall that the women have been honored. The men’s program combined for a 3.10 GPA, receiving the team award for a 14th time.

A total of 220 D-III programs across the country were recognized, while Goucher was one of 141 which had both the men’s and women’s teams awarded.