SU Garners USTFCCCA Academic Honors

The Syracuse cross country team garnered academic honors from the USTFCCCA this afternoon. The men's team that finished in 15th place at the 2012 NCAA Championship, was honored as USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team. The women's squad was also named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. Sarah Pagano, Griff Graves and Martin Hehir each garnered USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

This is the fourth straight year for both the men and the women's team to be honored as All-Academic teams. The men are one of 145 teams to be recognized and posted a team GPA of 3.218. The women were one of 200 teams to be honored and recorded a team GPA of 3.188.

To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, a team must have had a cumulative team GPA of 3.00 or better and have started at least five runners at their respective NCAA regional championship.

Pagano earned her second-straight USTFCCA All-Academic Honor. In her senior cross country season, Pagano led the Orange in every race that she competed in and represented SU in the NCAA Championships. At NCAAs, Pagano finished in 63rd place with a time of 20:29. Pagano was honored as an All-Region Honoree and named All-BIG EAST for the third-straight year. She ran to a ninth place finish in the BIG EAST Championships (21:10) and a 13th place finish (20:19) in the NCAA Northeast Regional.

Pagano is a biochemistry and nutrition major in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for seven-straight semesters and named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team for the following season: 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

This is the first time that Graves has been awarded with the USTFCCCA All-Academic Honor. After helping SU to its third BIG EAST men's cross country title in four years, Graves was named All-BIG EAST. He was also an All-Region honoree after being the top SU finisher in the NCAA Northeast Regional with a sixth place finish (30:37.6). Graves placed 71st at the NCAA Championships after finishing with a time of 30:30.

Graves was a member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for six out of eight semesters at SU, and a member of the BIG EAST All Academic Team for the 2008-09, 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Graves earned his undergraduate degree in public relations in May 2012 and is currently pursuing his master's degree in New Media Management in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Hehir had an impressive redshirt freshman season, capturing the BIG EAST title by completing the race in 24:37.20. Hehir was honored as All-BIG EAST and an All-Region Honoree after placing 10th (30"31.9) the NCAA Northeast Regionals. At the NCAA Championships, Hehir ran to a 94th place finish (30:55).

Hehir has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all three seasons so far at SU and was named a member of the 2011-12 All-BIG EAST Academic Team. Hehir is majoring in biology in the College of arts and Sciences.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have either earned USTFCCCA All-America status or finished in the NCAA region's top 15 (or top 10 percent) in 2012.

Syracuse University Athletics

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