FRISCO, Texas – UIW’s Griffin Neal and Lamar's Nia Clatworthy 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 3.75 grade point average at UIW, majoring in business administration. The first team all-Southland honoree was a three-time runner of the week and finished second at the Southland Championships in San Antonio. He had four top 10 finishes and two first place finishes on the season and earned an All-Regional medal at the NCAA South Central Regional Championship. He earns all-academic honors for the third consecutive season and his second staight athlete of the year honor.
Clatworthy is a 3.90 junior working on her economics degree at Lamar. She won the 2023 Southland Conference individual championship in leading the Cardinals to the cross country title. She was a first team all-conference selections and also earned honors on the Dean's and President's Lists. She had four top 20 finishes and two top five finishes.
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 3.25 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 3.5 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 *3 |
UIW |
Jr. |
Wimberley, Texas |
3.75 |
Business Administration |
| Dennis Kipngeno *3 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Nakuru, Kenya |
3.45 |
Health Care Administration |
| Kelvin Kimaiyo * |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
El Doret, Kenya |
3.48 |
Nursing |
| Alexandre Fetizon 2 |
UIW |
Jr. |
Ambonnay, France |
4.00 |
Science Engineering |
| Krzysztof Turski |
HCU |
Sr. |
Radom, Poland |
4.00 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
Men’s Cross Country All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Gary Sandrock |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
New Orleans, La. |
4.00 |
Chemistry |
| Casey Novelo |
A&M-Commerce |
Jr. |
Bedford, Texas |
3.95 |
Electrical Engineering |
| William Bellina |
Nicholls |
So. |
Donaldsonville, La. |
4.00 |
Pre-Law |
| Cade Litolff |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
Metairie, La. |
3.83 |
Chemistry |
| Rogerio Gomez |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
San Benito, Texas |
3.58 |
Kinesiology |
Women’s Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Nia Clatworthy, Lamar
Women’s Cross Country All-Academic First Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Nia Clatworth *2 |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Porthcawl, Wales |
3.90 |
Economics |
| Ashlyn Royal * |
UIW |
Sr. |
Wimberly, Texas |
3.78 |
Business Administration |
| Tshwanelo Maruping * |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
Tlhageng Kimberly, South Africa |
3.38 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Alexandra Weir 2 |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
4.00 |
Urban Development |
| Sorcha Moloney 2 |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Abbeyleix, Ireland |
4.00 |
Masters in Business Administration |
Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Rebecca Dekay |
New Orleans |
Gr. |
London, Ontario, Canada |
3.79 |
Masters in Business Administration |
| Irene Barreiro-Lopez |
McNeese |
Jr. |
Fene, Spain |
4.00 |
Computer Engineering |
| Marta Pascoa |
McNeese |
Jr. |
Setubal, Portugal |
3.44 |
General Studies and Behavioral Science |
| Oxana Bonjorn-Giros |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Mora d'Ebre, Spain |
3.89 |
Civil Engineering |
| Anthonate Barsai |
Southeastern |
So. |
Eldoret, Kenya |
4.00 |
Nursing |
* Automatic selection; 2023 First Team All-Conference