The Hope College men’s track & field team has claimed multiple academic honors from the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2016 season.
Coach Kevin Cole’s Flying Dutchmen were among 112 NCAA Division III men’s teams to be named a USTFCCCA Scholar Team after recording a 3.17 grade point average during the 2015-16 school year. To be eligible, teams must have recorded a 3.10 GPA or higher.
Three Hope student-athletes earned spots on the 293-member USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team: senior Boone Marois of Traverse City, Michigan (Central HS), junior Matt Pelyhes of Augusta, Michigan (Gull Lake HS) and sophomore Ben Pederson of Mount Prospect, Illinois (Prospect HS).
To be eligible, honorees must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher and either competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Track & Field Championship or finished the regular season ranked in the top 35 nationally in an individual event in the top 25 of a relay event.
Cole said the USTFCCCA academic awards are some of his favorites.
“This really is representative of what Hope College is all about and really shows we have excellent student-athletes,” Cole said. “It’s great to not only have this award as a team, but also to have such a large number of individuals as Academic All-Americans also.”