NEW ORLEANS, La. --- The South Dakota Mines men's and women's track & field programs were both honored with the 2020 NCAA Div. II All-Academic Team award announced Thursday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) from the league office in New Orleans, Louisiana.
                                                                                                                     
To be eligible, for the All-Academic Team Award, the cumulative GPA for indoor and/or outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, certifiable by the institution's registrar.
 
The Hardrocker women posted a 3.512 team GPA while the 'Rocker men tallied a 3.285 GPA as a team.
 
 "It was great to see that both our squads were able to find success even with the challenges of completing this past semester online," said Hardrocker track and field head coach Steve Johnson. "This award comes from the highest level and earning these honors just proves how balanced our athletes are."
 
The USTFCCCA also announced All-Academic Athlete Awards on Thursday where Hardrockers Erica Keeble and Kamryn Scully both received the honor.
 
In order to receive these accolades, athletes must have cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better on a 4.0 scale through the end of the semester of competition; must have completed at least 24 semester hours through the end of the semester of competition at the institution; and the scholar-athlete must have achieved an automatic- or provisional-qualifying mark (individual or relay event) for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Keeble, who earned NCAA Div. II All-American honors earlier this summer, was a junior pole vaulter from Nashville, Tennessee. She won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor women's pole vault champion after clearing a height of 13-feet-7.25-inches. That height broke the meet and facility records (held at UCCS) as well as set a new personal best and SD Mines school record. The Computer Sciences major captured the top mark in the South Central Region and was third in the country heading into the NCAA National Indoor Championships.
 
Scully cleared a height of 11-11.75 in the women's pole vault and finished in fifth place during the RMAC Indoor Championships which netted her All-RMAC Second Team Honors as well as met the qualifications for a NCAA Div. II provisional qualification. That is also the second-best all-time mark in Hardrocker history for the sophomore Civil Engineering major from Deer Lodge, Montana. 
 
"Both Erica and Kamryn had an outstanding indoor season before it was cut short," Johnson said. "There's no telling how things would have played out if we would have finished the outdoor schedule. Our pole vaulters have really set the bar high both athletically and academically. The sky's the limit for that group."
 

NCAA All-Academic