The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country All-Academic Teams with Concordia University being one of the teams to achieve the honor for 2007. The Golden Bears men were ninth of 66 teams with a 3.46 grade point average, while the women had a 3.46 grade point average to finish 35th of 99 teams.
The Concordia men were one of for teams from the Northern Sun to earn the honor, joining the University of Mary (3.32), Wayne State (3.17), Winona State (3.01).
The Golden Bears women were one of six teams from the Northern Sun to be selected as an all-academic team, joining the University of Mary (3.30), MSU Moorhead (3.59), Northern State (3.29), Wayne State (3.52) and Winona State (3.15) while future NSIC members Augustana and Minnesota Duluth were also among the 99 selected.
To be eligible for the team academic award, teams must list all student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA eligibility form and who have competed in 50% or more of the cross country competitions on the team's schedule. Additionally, the team must compete at the NCAA Division II regional championships and have a team cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
Over the past three years, Division II women's cross country institutions have received a total of 286 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards, an average of 95 per year. During that time frame, 79% of women's cross country program's have achieved the honor.
Incredibly, 21 out of the 24 teams that competed at the 2007 NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships achieved the all-academic team award, including nine of the top ten.
Last year, Concordia received the honor, finishing 39th out of the 91 NCAA Division II programs in team grade point average while the men received the highest ranking of the 57 Division II teams.
This is the third consecutive year the women's team has been recognized with the team academic award, finishing with the eighth highest GPA out of the 84 honored in 2005.
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