NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Both the Bradley men's and women's cross country teams received all-academic team honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Friday. In addition to the team honors, senior Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic award winner.
To be eligible for the award, teams had to complete the 2015 Fall semester with a 3.00 cumulative grade point average. The Bradley women's team finished the fall with a 3.61 GPA for the second highest team grade point average in the Missouri Valley Conference and tied Idaho for 27th among NCAA Division I programs. The Bradley men's cross country team's 3.52 grade point average was also second in the Valley and tied for 14th nationally.
A total of 205 NCAA Division I women's teams earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic team honors, while 171 NCAA Division I men's teams received the distinction. The Wisconsin-Green Bay women led the nation with a 3.83 team GPA and Tennessee-Chattanooga had the top men's GPA at 3.785.
Individual honorees must own a 3.25 cumulative grade point average or greater and have finished in the top 15 (or 10 percent) of runners at NCAA Regionals or as an All-American at the NCAA National Championship.
The Bradley women have had a total of five USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees over the last three years with Kristen Busch earning the honor for the third consecutive year.
A health science major with a 3.66 cumulative grade point average, Busch concluded her highly decorated cross country career with an 83rd-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship in Louisville, Ky. The first female runner from the MVC to reach the NCAA Cross Country Championship since 2012, Busch missed All-American honors by 17 seconds, crossing the line at 20:45.0.
Part of the Bradley women's cross country teams back-to-back MVC Cross Country championship teams in 2014 & 2015, she was the first Bradley runner to advance to the NCAA Championship since Mary Ellen Hill in 1999. Busch was a two-time all-region performer during her cross country career and took home All-MVC honors each of her last three cross country seasons.
The Bradley women's cross country team placed 31 individuals on the Bradley Athletic Director's Honor Roll, while the Bradley men's team had 21 earn a spot on the AD Honor Roll with both teams claiming their respective conference team championships.
