Feb. 29, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina cross country team has continued its excellence in the classroom, earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Honors after posting a 3.72 team grade point average in the fall semester. The mark is the sixth highest of 159 teams to receive the honor.

Coached by Stan Rosenthal, the Gamecocks also earned the honor last season when they posted the 14th highest team grade point average in the nation with a 3.56.

To be honored as an All-Academic Team, teams were required to compete in an NCAA regional meet and have at least a cumulative GPA of 3.0. Eight Southeastern Conference teams received All-Academic Team honors, with South Carolina posting the highest team GPA.

Six Gamecocks were named to the President’s List last semester, awarded to students for a perfect 4.0 GPA. Senior Rebecca Chain, redshirt junior Callie Rabun, and freshmen Julie Baldwin, Courtney Bowen, Sarah Langdon and Tara Tae all earned the honors for the Gamecocks. Only 45 Carolina student-athletes were named to the President’s List for the Fall 2007 semester, with the cross country team accounting for nearly one of every seven student-athletes to earn the honor.

Ten cross country members were named to the Dean’s List, awarded to students with a GPA above 3.50 (3.25 for freshmen). Juniors Kelsey Bristol, Casey Gale and Megan Robers, sophomores Amanda Barrett and Lisa McKinney, and freshmen Cassity Brewer, Ashley Evens, Andrea Houston, Lauren Jaynes and Chelsea Leroux all earned the honor for their work in the fall semester.

Six Gamecocks were recognized on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, awarded to student-athletes with a GPA above 3.00. Juniors Laura Regensburg and Alyse Shayer, sophomores Katarina Cap and Katie Daly along with freshmen Katie McEvoy and Laura Pramstaller all earned the honor.

The mean Fall GPA for USC’s 206 female student-athletes was 3.235 while the overall mean GPA for the entire USC student-body of 18,232 students was 3.148. In the University of South Carolina’s academic reports, cross country is not separated from the overall women’s track program, but if cross country were separated it would have the highest team GPA in the department by almost three-tenths of a point. The women’s golf team took USC team honors with a 3.48 GPA in the fall semester.