IRVING, Texas - After competing in every WKU Cross Country meet this season, Alexa Brainard has been named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team, the league office announced Thursday. The WKU junior is one of just six C-USA women to earn the honor.
Entering her junior campaign, Brainard carried a 3.90 GPA while studying public health with a pre-physical therapy concentration. This is the first honor of the sort for Brainard, a Collierville, Tennessee, native. She also competes for the Lady Topper indoor and outdoor track teams.
This season, Brainard competed in all four meets for the Lady Toppers and was the second runner in Red and White to cross the finish line at each meet. Her top finish came at the Golden Eagle 5K to open the season, where she finished 23rd with a mark of 21:17.2. Brainard's quickest finish came at the Conference USA Championships, when she ran a 5K time of 19:23.0, a new personal best.
Joining Brainard on the women's All-Academic Team are runners from four different institutions. Kacie Kaufman from Louisiana Tech, Susannah Lynch out of North Texas, Abigail Cartwright and Katie Jensen from Rice and Dana Dillistone from Southern Miss all earned honors as well. In total, 12 student athletes were honored as Taylor Hayes (Marshall), William Shaffer (Marshall), Sampson Laari (Middle Tennessee), James Coleman (North Texas), Antony Kosgei (UTEP) and John von Dohlen (UTSA) earned honors on the men's side.
2016 InTouch Credit Union C-USA Cross Country Men's All-Academic Team
*Taylor Hayes | Marshall | Senior | 3.92 - Biology
William Shaffer | Marshall |Senior | 3.88 - Civil Engineering
Sampson Laari | Middle Tennessee | Junior | 3.74 - Liberal Studies
James Coleman | North Texas | Senior | 3.69 - Psychology
Antony Kosgei | UTEP | Sophomore | 3.73 - Environmental Science
John von Dohlen | UTSA | Junior | | 3.94 - Marketing
2016 InTouch Credit Union C-USA Cross Country Women's All-Academic Team
Kacie Kaufman | Louisiana Tech | Sophomore | 4.00 - Communication
Susannah Lynch | North Texas | Sophomore | 4.00 - Psychology
Abigail Cartwright | Rice | Sophomore | 3.86 - Civil Engineering
*Katie Jensen | Rice | Senior | 3.79 - Chemical Engineering
Dana Dillistone | Southern Miss | Senior | 3.97 - Biochemistry
Alexa Brainard | WKU | Junior | 3.90 - Public Health: Pre-Physical Therapy
*Repeat Selections
