FRISCO, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana track and field program placed five members on the 2016-17 Southland Conference Cross Country/Track & Field All-Academic Team, the league announced on Wednesday.

    Headlining the list is graduate student Alex Young, who was named the conference's Outdoor Track & Field Student-Athlete of the Year. Young was joined on the All-Academic team by senior Stephen Cassingham, graduate student Addison Martinez, junior Clarissa Smith and sophomore Dekayta Alex.

    "These five student athletes exemplify the core values of the athletic department mission statement," Southeastern head coach Sean Brady said. "They are committed to excellence in the classroom, in the community and in competition. Addison and Alex have achieved this while in graduate school. We hope to continue to recruit young men and women of this caliber but it will be a challenge."

    Young and Cassingham were automatic selections to the conference team after being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 squad earlier this month. The pair were the Southland's lone representatives on the All-District teams for men or women. Martinez, Alex and Smith were selected in a vote by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each Southland Conference institution.

    The teams were comprised of 35 male and 41 female student-athletes.

    Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative grade point average, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for All-Academic selection.

    The Southland Conference Awards Committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the Student-Athlete of the Year. Nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.

    Automatic selections are CoSIDA Academic All-District team members and first team All-Conference selections. First team All-Conference comprises top-five finishers at the cross country championships and gold medalists at indoor and outdoor track and field championships.

    Young made the Southland All-Academic team for the second time in his three-year Southeastern career after posting a 3.83 undergraduate GPA and 4.00 graduate GPA with a major in kinesiology. The Nashville, Tennessee native also was named the Southland's Indoor Track & Field Student-Athlete of the Year in 2016.
    
    On the field, Young became the third four-time All-American in Southeastern history earlier this month after finishing second in the hammer throw at the NCAA Division I National Championships with a school-record throw of 241 feet, 8 inches. He also captured the Southland Conference championships in both the hammer throw and shot put and was named the conference's Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year. He had seven victories overall during the outdoor season, including school-record efforts at both the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and Miami Hurricane Intercollegiate.

    Cassingham was one of three student-athletes to be honored for having the highest GPA – a 3.94 in mathematics - in the Southeastern athletics department among graduating seniors. The New Orleans native was also the treasurer of Southeastern's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He was 36th in the 5,000 at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships and had three top-10 finishes in the 5,000 during the outdoor season, including a third at the Mississippi College Invite. He had two sixth-place finishes in the 3,000 during the indoor season and a pair of top-20 finishes in the 2016 cross country campaign.

    Martinez was the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The Jennings, Louisiana native has a 3.50 GPA in graduate school after earning a degree in business management with a 3.67 GPA. She took ninth in the pole vault at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships and had nine top-10 finishes in 2017 outdoors, including a victory at the McNeese Spring Time Classic. She finished sixth in the vault at the Southland Indoor Championships after compiling four top-10 finishes during the season.

    Smith, who carries a 3.88 GPA in biology, was a member of the Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and Southeastern President's List in the fall. The native of Holden, Louisiana was named to the 2016 Louisiana Sports Writers Association's All-Louisiana Cross Country first team after finishing in the top 25 in all six of her meets with one victory, a runner-up, a third and an eighth. She also took 23rd at the Southland Cross Country Championships.

    Smith placed 20th in the 5,000 and 22nd in the 3,000 at the Southland Indoor Championships and had three seconds, a third and a fourth running the 800, 3,000 and the mile during the indoor season. She also eclipsed the McNeese Rec Center record in the mile.

    Alex was a member of both the Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and Southeastern Dean's List in the fall with a 3.71 GPA in kinesiology. The Natchitoches, Louisiana native placed fourth in the 400 meters at the Southland Outdoor Championships after setting a personal best in the preliminaries. She received second-team All-Southland honors for the indoor season in the 400 after placing second at the conference championships in a then-personal-best 54.84 seconds. She was also named the Southland Female Athlete of the Week after breaking her school record in the 600 meters at the LSU Purple Tiger.

    Sam Houston State's Nicole Aponte, in her fifth-straight appearance on the Southland All-Academic team, was named the Women's Student-Athlete of the Year.

2016-17 Southland Conference Men's Cross Country/Track & Field All-Academic Team

Name	School	Cl.	Hometown	GPA	Major
Freddie Gasbarri^	Lamar	Jr.	Chieti, Italy	3.43	Mechanical Engineering
Tobias Riker^	Lamar	Gr.	Mainz, Germany	3.93	Business Administration
Brian O'Bonna%	Lamar	Jr.	Brampton, Ontario, Canada	3.10	Management
Nathan Jones&%	McNeese	Jr.	Rhyl, Wales	3.31	Health Education
Oliver James&3	McNeese	Sr.	Sunderland, England	3.66	Biology
Michael Nicholls&%	New Orleans	So.	Bridgetown, Barbados	3.25	Kinesiology
Kalvin Singletary&2	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Van Vleck, Texas	3.22	Criminal Justice
Tyler Adams&2	Sam Houston State	Jr.	Buffalo, Texas	3.29	Engineering Technology
Stephen Cassingham$	Southeastern L.	Sr.	New Orleans, La.	3.94	Mathematics
Alex Young*$%2	Southeastern La.	Gr.	Nashville, Tenn.	3.83	Kinesiology
Kerry Gleason&2	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Justin, Texas	3.00	Kinesiology
Hunter Key%	Stephen F. Austin	Sr.	Garrison, Texas	3.43	Kinesiology
Ryan Simmons	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Belton, Texas	3.85	Accounting
Reid Rivers	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Anchorage, Alaska	3.90	Vocation & Ministry
Evan Arambula3	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Eustace, Texas	3.69	Human Resource Management
Ryan Cleary	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Prosper, Texas	3.82	Accounting
Garett Cortez	UIW	So.	Schertz, Texas	3.83	Sport Management
Chris Speaks	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Coldspring, Texas	3.21	Engineering Technology
Marek Spriesterbach	Texas A&M-CC	So.	Limburg, Germany	3.94	Mechanical Engineering
Daven Murphree3	Stephen F. Austin	Sr.	Winnsboro, Texas	3.69	Kinesiology
Federico Machado	New Orleans	Sr.	San Salvador, El Salvador	3.98	Marketing & Business
William Maraggia2	Texas A&M-CC	Jr.	Inez, Texas	3.77	Management
Daniel Shelton	Houston Baptist	Jr.	Houston, Texas	3.18	Kinesiology
Grant Williams2	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Hot Springs, Ark.	3.64	Biology
Chris Winski	UIW	Jr.	Katy, Texas	3.97	Biology
Markus Schweikert	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Spay, Germany	3.82	Marketing
Stu Ferguson2	Lamar	Gr.	Oxford, England	3.68	Family & Consumer Science
Lucas Akins2	Stephen F. Austin	Sr.	Grand Saline, Texas	3.33	Kinesiology
Derek Orlando	Stephen F. Austin	Sr.	Katy, Texas	3.27	Business Management
Jacob Ulbricht2	UIW	Sr.	Spring Branch, Texas	3.76	Education
Sam Farrell	UIW	So.	Ingram, Texas	3.86	Sport Management
Clayton O'Callaghan	New Orleans	Sr.	New Roads, La.	3.42	Kinesiology
Mark Golay	New Orleans	So.	New Orleans, La.	3.77	Biology
Juan Fraga	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Houston, Texas	3.50	Kinesiology
Andrew Leuthner	UIW	Jr.	UIW	3.72	Accounting

 
2016-17 Southland Conference Women's Cross Country/Track & Field All-Academic Team

Name	School	Cl.	Hometown	GPA	Major
Dominique Allen%	UIW	So.	Converse, Texas	3.59	Rehab Science
Jannika John^%2	Lamar	Gr.	Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany	4.00	Family Consumer Sciences
Evelyn Chavez^&	Lamar	Jr.	Porter, Texas	3.40	Nursing
Alexandra Sokolova&2	Lamar	Jr.	Moscow, Russia	3.28	Corporate Communication
Katja Woelfl^2	McNeese	Jr.	Ellhofen, Germany	4.00	General Business Administration
Nicole Casper&2	McNeese	Gr.	Buna, Texas	4.00	Health Promotions
De'Shalyn Jones&%2	Northwestern State	Jr.	Tyler, Texas	3.17	Psychology
Nicole Aponte*%5	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Kingwood, Texas	4.00	Victim Services Management
Tristyn Allen&%	Sam Houston State	So.	Sealy, Texas	3.61	Mass Communication
Olivia Olguin^%2	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Arlington, Texas	3.22	Kinesiology
Hannah McWilliams%2	Texas A&M-CC	Jr.	Portland, Texas	3.81	Marketing
Sashane Hanson&%	Texas A&M-CC	So.	Montego Bay, Jamaica	3.45	Biomedical Science
Morgan Woods	McNeese	So.	Lake Arthur, La.	4.00	Elementary Education
Kenzie Walker Mascorro	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Abilene, Texas	3.75	Nursing
Alison Smegal	McNeese	Sr.	Oshawa, Ontario, Canada	3.72	Biology
Ana Kriletic	Houston Baptist	So.	Split, Croatia	4.00	Psychology
Brigette Caruthers	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Branson, Mo.	3.88	Physical Therapy
Carnley Graham	Abilene Christian	So.	Prosper, Texas	3.90	Environmental Science
Tyra Duma	Northwestern State	So.	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada	4.00	Health & Exercise Science
Brielle Collet	Abilene Christian	So.	Matador, Texas	4.00	Kinesiology
Jacqueline Rushford	Northwestern State	Jr.	DeRidder, La.	3.99	Health & Exercise Science
Shelby Pesek2	Stephen F. Austin	Gr.	Corpus Christi, Texas	3.71	Mass Communications
Melina Ortiz3	Texas A&M-CC	Sr.	Port Lavaca, Texas	3.94	Biomedical Science
Keila Rodriguez2	UIW	Sr.	Brownsville, Texas	3.91	Vision Science
Dekayta Alex	Southeastern La.	So.	Natchitoches, La.	3.71	Kinesiology
Rainy Castaneda2	UIW	Sr.	Laredo, Texas	3.54	Government
Clarissa Smith	Southeastern La.	Jr.	Holden, La.	3.88	Biology
Brianna Blagowsky	UIW	Jr.	Plano, Texas	3.90	Education
Kendall Rodriguez	Texas A&M-C	So.	Burleson, Texas	4.00	Management
Stephanie Aguilar	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Rosenberg, Texas	3.89	Psychology
Taylor Thomas	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Waller, Texas	3.72	Kinesiology
Karina Velez	UIW	Sr.	Eagle Pass, Texas	3.83	Accounting
Taylor Posey	Abilene Christian	So.	Rotan, Texas	3.74	Nursing
Jasmine Williams	UIW	Sr.	Huntsville, Texas	3.96	Sport Management
Addison Martinez	Southeastern La.	Gr.	Jennings, La.	3.67	Business Management
Katelyn Mead	UIW	Sr.	Costa Mesa, Calif.	3.90	Sociology
Danielle Martinez	UIW	So.	New Braufnels, Texas	3.78	Marketing
Rana Ryan	Stephen F. Austin	Sr.	Roanoke, Texas	3.05	Nursing
Samantha Gibson	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa.	3.05	Exercise Science
Imogen Hull	McNeese	So.	Kerikeri, New Zealand	3.65	Finance
Sara Calhoun	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Fayetteville, Ark.	3.66	Accounting

 
* - Student-Athlete of the Year
^ - Top-five finisher, 2016 XC Championships
& - Gold Medalist, 2017 Indoor Championships
% - Gold Medalist, 2017 Outdoor Championships
$ - CoSIDA Academic All-District
2 - Two-time All-Academic selection
3 - Three-time All-Academic selection
4 - Four-time All-Academic selection
5 - Five-time All-Academic selection