Track And Field Earns Individual Academic Honors

Photo by: Matthew Kamph

Jul 25, 2019 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Fifth-straight year Memphis has double-digit number of student-athletes on the USTFCCCA list.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Memphis track and field program continues to shine in the classroom, and further proof of that came Thursday when the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its men's and women's All-Academic individual awards for 2018-19.

Twelve Tigers student-athletes (6 men/6 women) earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction, the third-most honorees from an American Athletic Conference institution this year. The following are Memphis' USTFCCCA All-Academic individual honorees:

Men's Team	Women's Team
Noah Agnew	Saida Burns-Moore
Adam Neelly	Christian Hill
Olushola Olojo	Samantha Lenton
Imri Persiado	Ashley Pryke
Julian Sanchez-Pinto	Paige Sandwell
Jordan Wesner	Amber Simpson

It is the fifth-consecutive year and the sixth time in the last seven 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, 15 in 2015-16, 14 in 2016-17 and 17 (school record) in 2017-18.

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

Tigers Tidbits on USTFCCCA All-Academic Honorees

The Tigers' 12 honorees were tied for 33^rdamong all NCAA Division I institutions and led all NCAA Division I schools in the state of Tennessee. The Volunteers track and field program was second with 10 USTFCCCA All-Academic individuals.
Of the 12 honored student-athletes, seven made repeat appearances on the USTFCCCA All-Academic individual list. The seven are: Noah Agnew (2017-18, 2018-19), Saida Burns-Moore (2017-18, 2018-19), Adam Neelly (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19), Olushola Olojo (2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19), Ashley Pryke (2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19), Julian Sanchez-Pinto (2017-18, 2018-19) and Jordan Wesner (2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19).
Ten of the 12 Tigers on the USTFCCCA All-Academic list competed in the 2019 NCAA East Preliminaries (regional postseason).
Five of Memphis' honorees set school records in 2018-19 (indoor/outdoor). They are: Saida Burns-Moore in the women's high jump (outdoor), Imri Persiado in the men's 4x100-meter relay (outdoor), Ashley Pryke in the women's javelin (outdoor), Julian Sanchez-Pinto in the men's 5000 meters (indoor) and Jordan Wesner in the men's high jump (indoor).
Saida Burns-Moore (women's outdoor high jump), Ashley Pryke (women's javelin) and Jordan Wesner (men's indoor high jump) won American Athletic Conference titles in their respective events.
Imri Persiado, Ashley Pryke and Jordan Wesner all earned USTFCCCA All-America and All-Academic honors in 2018-19. Persiado, Pryke and Wesner received USTFCCCA All-America second team recognition in their respective events.
In addition to earning USTFCCCA All-Academic honors,Olushola Olojo and Ashley Pryke wereselected to the Google Cloud/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America third team. Those two – along with Adam Neelly and Paige Sandwell – wereCoSIDA Academic All-District III honorees.