Air Force Academy

June 30, 2010

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Eight members of the Air Force cross country team were selected as Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athletes, the league office announced this afternoon (June 30) from their office in Colorado Springs. The Falcons were represented by six men and two women, seven of whom also earned the honor as a member of the track and field team.

With five of six selections by the men's team receiving double honors as distance runners for the track team, the men's cross country team is tied with its track and field counterparts for the most Scholar-Athlete distinctions by any of the Academy's 26 NCAA-sponsored sports.

Freshmen Jeremy Drenckhahn and Ted Artz lead the men's team with respective GPAs of 3.83 and 3.82 in aeronautical engineering. Senior Austin Fritzke earned his third career honor, as he held a 3.78 average in electrical engineering. Senior Zach Nordahl (civil engineering), junior Tyler Small (physics) and freshman Gage Owens (mechanical engineering) all accumulated grade-point-averages of 3.53.

Nordahl was named to the MWC Scholar-Athlete list for the fourth straight year, while Small claimed his third such honor.

On the women's side, Rhodes Scholar and recent Academic All-American, Brittany Morreale, was named to the MWC Scholar-Athlete list with a 3.70 GPA in physics. Freshman Kate Kanetzky, currently undeclared on a major, paced the pair of women's selections with a 3.73 GPA.

The MWC Scholar-Athlete Award is the highest academic honor bestowed by the conference. To be eligible for the selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in an NCAA-sponsored sport.