[February 13, 2008]

By: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas cross country athletes’ Kendall Mears and Joshua Mitchell have been named to the 2007 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Teams.

There were 202 female student-athletes from 99 NCAA Division II programs and 127 males representing 67 Division II institutions on this year’s teams. To qualify for the all-academic honor, student-athletes must have completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours and have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.25 on a 4.00 scale. They also must have finished in the top 30 percent of the contestants at their respective regional cross country championships.

Mears, a junior from Simms, Texas, has a 3.26 GPA in exercise science. She was selected earlier this year to the 2007 Gulf South Conference Academic Honor Roll, as she was last year. Mears is a member of the SAU President’s List (4.00 GPA) and is a two-time member of the SAU Dean’s List (minimum 3.50 GPA). She finished 13th at both the NCAA South Region and GSC championships this past season, earning All-South Region and Second Team All-GSC honors. Mears was the leading runner on the 2007 Lady Mulerider squad who had six top 13 finishes, including winning the Southern Arkansas Invitational and Hendrix Orange Crush, and placed second at Ouachita Baptist’s Bob Gravett Invitational. She had a season-best time of 19:15 (6th) in the 5K at the Rhodes Invitational in Memphis, the highest finish of any non-Division I participant out of 137 runners, which earned her the GSC Runner of the Week award. Mears was the lead scorer in all seven of the Lady Muleriders’ meets.

A senior from Alia, Hawaii, Mitchell sports a 3.64 GPA in exercise science. He was earlier selected to the prestigious 2007 GSC Fall All-Academic Team. Mitchell is a four-time (2004-2007) member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll, and is a two-time member of the SAU President’s List and three-time member of the Dean’s List. The leading runner on the 2007 Mulerider squad, he finished in the top three in three meets this past fall, including winning both the Ouachita Baptist Bob Gravett Invitational and Hendrix Orange Crush. Mitchell placed 35th in a 73-man field to help lead the Muleriders to a seventh-place finish at the GSC championship and placed 51st of 132 at the South Region championship.