Eight Track & Field Rebels Receive National Academic Honors

Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
@olemisspix

Eight members of the 2016 Ole Miss track & field team have received All-Academic recognition from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Men’s All-Academic honorees included Kevin Conway, Craig Engels, Derek Gutierrez, Ryan Manahan and Ryan Walling. Women’s recipients were Bo Ummels, Britt Ummels and Leanne Zimmer.

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 met at least one of the following athletic standards:

• For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.
• For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).

Conway, a criminal justice major, ranked top 40 in the indoor weight throw this season and also competed in the NCAA East Preliminary in the hammer throw.

Engels is the 2016 SEC champion and a first team All-American in the 1500 meters, as well as an SEC champion and first team All-American in the indoor distance medley relay. He went on to have an extremely successful week at the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing fourth in the 800 and fifth in the 1500, just missing a spot on Team USA for the Rio Olympics. In the classroom, he holds a 3.60 GPA as a general studies major. He was a CoSIDA Academic All-District VI selection and was also honored as USTFCCCA All-Academic in cross country.

Gutierrez, an accountancy major, helped the Rebels’ distance medley relay squad place third at the NCAA Indoor Championships en route to first team All-America honors. He placed fifth in the SEC indoor mile and eighth in the SEC outdoor 1500 meters.

Manahan holds a 3.52 GPA as a general studies major and was an SEC champion in the indoor distance medley relay and the bronze medalist in the SEC indoor mile.

Walling had a sensational season as a fifth-year graduate transfer at Ole Miss. Boasting a 3.73 GPA in recreation administration, he captured SEC indoor titles in the 3000 and 5000 meters, while earning first team All-America honors in the latter. He was also a first team All-American and SEC runner-up in the outdoor 5K.

Bo Ummels ranked 69th in the nation in the indoor 5000 meters and also set a school record in the indoor mile (4:47.10), while making the SEC outdoor final and the NCAA East Preliminary in the 1500 meters. She accumulated a 3.84 GPA in the master’s degree program for criminal justice.

Britt Ummels, Bo’s twin sister, made the quarterfinals of the 1500 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary after breaking the school record with a time of 4:19.21. She also topped the school record in the indoor 3000 meters (9:24.09), which ranked her 73rd in the country. She too is in the master’s degree program for criminal justice with a 3.88 GPA.

Zimmer, who boasts a 3.80 GPA in anthropology, ranked 93rd in the nation in the indoor 800 meters with a team-best time of 2:09.22.

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