DALLAS – Conference USA named 14 student-athletes to its 2024 CUSA Cross Country All-Academic team Tuesday afternoon. Liberty and MTSU were well represented as each institution had three students featured on the list. Jax State, Kennesaw State, Sam Houston, New Mexico State, LA Tech, and WKU also had athletes earn scholastic recognition.
Three individuals picked up their second consecutive All Academic recognition in Jax State’s
Jack Lowe (Exercise Science & Wellness, 3.95), Liberty’s
Kyle Harkabus (Sport Management, 3.65) and Sam Houston’s
Mario Ruiz (Clinical Exercise Science & Athletic Training, 3.61, 3.40). In addition to their classroom prowess, all three men earned Third Team All-Conference honors.
NM State’s
Thomas Croshaw (Civil Engineering) earned a perfect 4.0 GPA on the men’s side. The sophomore Aggie earned Freshman of the Meet honors at the 2023 CUSA Cross Country Championship. Croshaw also earned one Athlete of the Week honor and Second Team All-Conference recognition this season.
Additional notable academic accomplishments include MTSU’s
Juan Lucas (Aerospace), Kennesaw State’s
Grant Crabtree (Mechanical Engineering) and Jax State’s
Rodrigo Fraga (Finance), all receiving a GPA of 3.8 or above.
Liberty’s
Marie Hostetler (Interior Design, 3.93) has been selected for All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year, as she holds a 3.93 GPA as a redshirt senior majoring in Interior Design. Hostetler also received Second Team All-Conference honors this year.
Kennesaw State’s
Samantha Burmeister (Mechanical Engineering) and MTSU’s
Eleanor Towe (Recording Industry) and
Hailee Gorham (Aerospace) earned perfect 4.0 GPAs.
The additional All-Academic Team honorees on the women’s side earned a GPA of 3.8 or above in Liberty’s
Katrina Schlenker (Aeronautics: Commercial Corp, 3.93), LA Tech’s
Lexa Thompson Kinesiology & Health Sciences, 3.948) and WKU’s
Kinley Kunkel (Biology/Chemistry, 3.89).
2024 Men’s Cross Country All-Academic Team
| NAME |
YEAR |
GPA |
Major/Minor |
| Rodrigo Fraga, Jax State |
Sr. |
3.90 |
Finance |
| Jack Lowe, Jax State |
Jr. |
3.95 |
Exercise Science & Wellness |
| Kyle Harkabus, Liberty |
R-Sr. |
3.65 |
Sport Management |
| Grant Crabtree, Kennesaw St. |
Sr. |
3.9 |
Mechanical Engineering |
| Mario Ruiz, Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.61
3.40 |
Clinical
Exercise Science - Athletic Training |
| Thomas Croshaw, NM State |
So. |
4.0 |
Civil Engineering |
| Juan Lucas, MTSU |
So. |
3.81 |
Aerospace |
2024 Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Team
| NAME |
YEAR |
GPA |
Major/Minor |
| Lexa Thompson, LA Tech |
Jr. |
3.948 |
Kinesiology & Health Sciences |
| Samantha Burmeister, Kennesaw St. |
So. |
4.0 |
Mechanical Engineering |
| Marie Hostetler, Liberty |
R-Sr. |
3.93 |
Interior Design |
| Katrina Schlenker, Liberty |
Jr. |
3.93 |
Aeronautics: Commercial Corp |
| Eleanor Towe, MTSU |
So. |
4.0 |
Recording Industry |
| Hailee Gorham, MTSU |
So. |
4.0 |
Aerospace |
| Kinley Kunkel, WKU |
So. |
3.89 |
Biology/Chemistry |