UIW's Neal, HCU's Rabius earn Southland Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year; All-Academic teams announced
FRISCO, Texas – UIW’s Griffin Neal and HCU’s Jessica Rabius are the Southland Conference Cross Country Student-Athletes of the Year, the league announced Thursday. The pair headlined the latest Cross Country Academic All-Conference rosters as first-team selections.
Neal carries a 3.59 grade point average at UIW, majoring in business administration. The first team all-Southland honoree was the champion of the UIW Twilight, placed third at the Nicholls Invitational and UIW Invitational, was fifth at the Southland Championships and 37
th at the NCAA South Central Regional. He earns all-academic honors for the second consecutive season.
Rabius is a 4.0 graduate student working on her master’s in business administration at HCU. She had one top-5 finish and two top-10 finishes this season, including a sixth place finish at the Southland Championships. She earns all-academic honors for the second consecutive season. Rabius previously earned her undergraduate degree in kinesiology and sport management.
There were three male student-athletes earning automatic Academic All-Conference distinctions. Lamar had three total honorees while UIW and New Orleans each had a pair of honorees among the two teams.
Two women earned automatic qualification to the all-academic teams. Lamar, McNeese, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi had two honorees each.
Southland Conference All-Academic Teams are voted upon by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each school. Student-Athletes of the Year are voted upon by an awards committee which consists of one administrator from each member school. Voting for one’s own athletes is not permitted.
To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average through the semester prior to the sport’s championship, completed at least one full academic year at the nominating school prior to the current season, and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competitions during the most recently completed season.
Student-Athlete of the Year nominees must hold at least a 3.20 GPA and have completed at least two years of athletic competition at the nominating institution.
First Team All-Conference athletes (top five finishers at the Southland Cross Country Championships) who meet all-academic nomination criteria and are nominated for the academic award are automatically named First Team All-Academic selections.
Men’s Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Griffin Neal, UIW
Men’s Cross Country All-Academic First Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Griffin Neal *2 |
UIW |
So. |
Wimberley, Texas |
3.59 |
Business Administration |
| Dennis Kipngeno *2 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Nakuru, Kenya |
3.27 |
Nursing |
| George Wheeler * |
Lamar |
Gr. |
Milton Keynes, England |
3.12 |
Environmental Studies |
| Jaden Forester 2 |
New Orleans |
So. |
La Mesa, Calif. |
4.00 |
Computer Science |
| Eli Peveto |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Orange, Texas |
4.00 |
Computer Science |
Men’s Cross Country All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Alexandre Fetizon |
UIW |
So. |
Ambonnay, France |
4.00 |
Engineering (Mechanical) |
| Conor Smith |
Lamar |
So. |
Birmingham, England |
4.00 |
Chemistry |
| Cade Litolff 2 |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Metairie, La. |
4.00 |
Chemistry |
| Randy Canady |
Nicholls |
R-Jr. |
Groesbeck, Texas |
3.129 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Tanner Townsend |
A&M-Commerce |
Sr. |
Royse City, Texas |
4.00 |
Kinesiology & Sport Studies |
Women’s Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Jessica Rabius, HCU
Women’s Cross Country All-Academic First Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Jessica Rabius 2 |
HCU |
Sr. |
East Bernard, Texas |
4.00 |
Masters in Business Administration |
| Yasmine Austridge * |
Lamar |
Sr. |
London, England |
4.00 |
Business Administration |
| Faith Bett * |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Gr. |
Eldoret, Kenya |
3.80 |
Nursing |
| Alexandra Weir |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
3.63 |
Sociology |
| Nia Clatworthy |
Lamar |
So. |
Porthcawl, Wales |
3.90 |
Nutrition |
Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Sharon Kiprop |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
Iten, Kenya |
3.43 |
Nursing |
| Elsa Rijpstra 2 |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Oentsjerk, The Netherlands |
4.00 |
Health Science Pre-Athletic Training |
| Pamela Kosgei |
McNeese |
R-Sr. |
Eldoret, Kenya |
3.39 |
General Studies and Behavioral Science |
| Andrea Acuna |
UIW |
So. |
Ft. Worth, Texas |
3.32 |
Psychology |
| Sorcha Moloney |
McNeese |
R-Jr. |
Abbeyleix, Ireland |
3.74 |
General Studies and Natural Science |
* Automatic selection; 2022 First Team All-Conference
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