Track And Field Student-Athletes Earn USTFCCCA Academic Honors

Yannik Schaly, 2016-17 Men's Track and Field

Photo by: Nikki Boertman

Track And Field Student-Athletes Earn USTFCCCA Academic Honors

Jul 31, 2017 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Tigers lead AAC with 14 All-Academic selections.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Memphis track and field program continues to shine in the arena of competition and the classroom. Proof of the program's success in the classroom came again Monday when the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its men's and women's All-Academic individual awards for 2016-17.

Fourteen Tigers student-athletes (men and women combined) earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction, the most honorees from an American Athletic Conference institution. Connecticut was second in the league with 11 student-athletes on the list.

It is the third-consecutive year and the fourth time in the last five seasons that Memphis had double-figure student-athletes named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic individual list. The Tigers had 12 in 2012-13, 13 in 2014-15 and a school-record 15 in 2015-16.

The Tigers men had nine honorees, and the women had five. Memphis men's nine selections were tied for eighth-highest nationally. The seven schools with more men student-athletes on the list were BYU (18), Arkansas (17), Wisconsin (15), Kentucky (12), Nebraska (11), Princeton (11) and Stanford (11).

Among the American Athletic Conference programs, Memphis led the league in total honorees (14) and men's selections (9). The Tigers tied Tulane for most women's student-athletes on the list with five.

Last Friday, the Tigers men's and women's squads received USTFCCCA All-Academic Team recognition. It was the six-straight year both teams earned the accolade.

The following are Memphis' USTFCCCA All-Academic individual honorees:

Men's Team	Women's Team
Lennard Biere	Dorina Baiker
Michael Criticos	Cera Chavez
Kolbeinn Gunnarsson	Chardae Greenlee
Adam Neelly	Rebeka Holt
Olushola Olojo	Ashley Pryke
Yannik Schaly
Rafael Vallery
Luke Vaughn
Jordan Wesner

Tigers Tidbits on USTFCCCA All-Academic Honorees

Of the 14 honored student-athletes, nine made repeat appearances on the USTFCCCA All-Academic individual list. The nine are: Dorina Baiker (2015-16, 2016-17), Michael Criticos (2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17), Chardae Greenlee (2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17), Olushola Olojo (2015-16, 2016-17), Ashley Pryke (2015-16, 2016-17), Yannik Schaly (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17), Rafael Vallery (2015-16, 2016-17), Luke Vaughn (2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17) and Jordan Wesner (2015-16, 2016-17).
Eleven of the 14 Tigers on the USTFCCCA All-Academic list also competed in the NCAA Preliminaries (regional postseason).
Four of Memphis' honorees set school records in 2016-17 (indoor/outdoor). They are: Cera Chavez in the women's 200 meters, Ashley Pryke in the women's javelin, Luke Vaughn in the men's shot put (indoor) and Jordan Wesner in the men's high jump.
Chardae Greenlee (women's triple jump), Ashley Pryke (women's javelin) and Jordan Wesner (men's high jump) won American Athletic Conference titles in their respective events.
Ashley Pryke and Michael Criticos earned both USTFCCCA All-America and All-Academic honors in 2016-17. Pryke received USTFCCCA All-America first team distinction with her third-place finish in the women's javelin at the NCAA Championships. Criticos garnered USTFCCCA All-America second team recognition in the men's javelin at the national meet.
In addition to the USTFCCCA All-Academic accolade, Olushola Olojo earned CoSIDA Academic All-America third team honors. Olojo also was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 first team.