Six Badgers honored as Academic All-Big Ten
December 03, 2008 | Men's Cross Country
One of the most important things that staffid=1045"> --> Mick Byrne stresses as a head coach is academics. In his final seven seasons at Iona College, Byrne coached 89 academic all-conference honorees. This season, six members of the Wisconsin men's cross country team were recognized for their work in the classroom earning Academic All-Big Ten honors.
athid=6100&deptid=195"> --> Jack Bolas , a junior majoring in Biology, earned his second Academic All-Big Ten accolade. The native of Chapel Hill, N.C. participated in three main events for Wisconsin. His most notable effort was at the Big Ten Championship where he placed seventh overall and earned All-Big Ten honors, while helping the team to its 10th-straight conference title.
In his last season as a UW student-athlete, athid=5192&deptid=195"> --> Christian Wagner merited his third Academic All-Big Ten honor while helping his teammates in competition. In five races this season, Wagner won the Huskie Open and placed fourth at the Paul Short Invitational and Big Ten Championship. He took home all-region and all-Big Ten accolades this season as well.
The other four Badgers that were honored by the Big Ten Conference were sophomore athid=6101&deptid=195"> --> Ryan Craven (Journalism), junior athid=5752&deptid=195"> --> Tim Pierie (Business-Financial and Real Estate), redshirt freshman athid=6757&deptid=195"> --> Phil Thomas (Undeclared) and Luke Rucks (Mechanical Engineering).
The Wisconsin men's cross country team increased its total of all-academic selections from three a year ago. To be considered for this award, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are currently in their second academic year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
