Alden Black Named USTFCCCA Outdoor Track & Field Scholar Athlete of the Year

St. Louis, Mo., August 10, 2011 — Washington University in St. Louis senior Alden Black was named the 2011 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Men’s Outdoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year, it was announced by the organization.

Black leads a group of 13 student-athletes on the Washington University men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field teams who garnered 2011 USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete honors. Additionally, both the WUSTL men’s and women’s track & field teams earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

Black, who majored in aerospace engineering and carried a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, is the first student-athlete in school history to earn individual Track Scholar Athlete of the Year accolades. He was the runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Delaware, Ohio, where he set a new school record with a time of 8:54.61 and captured All-America honors for the first time in his career.

Black’s second-place finish in the 3,000-steeplechase helped the Washington University men’s team place third overall in the team standings to grab the highest finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in program history. The Bears also finished second in the USTFCCCA Al Carius Program of the Year standings, thanks to an eighth-place finish at the 2011 Indoor Championships and a ninth-place showing at the cross country national championship meet last fall.

A total of seven Washington University student-athletes earned USTFCCCA Men’s All-Academic Team recognition, which tied for the third-highest single-team total in Division III. Senior Chris Brennan, junior Michael Burnstein, sophomore David Hamm, senior Ben Harmon junior Tyler Jackson and senior Dave Spandorfer joined Black in receiving the honor.

The WUSTL women’s team placed six student-athletes on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team: freshman Anna Etherington, freshman Sarah Fisher, junior Erica Jackey, senior Jessica Londeree, junior Liz Phillips, senior Taryn Surtees and junior Molly Wawrzyniak.

In order to earn All-Academic Team honors a student-athlete must carry at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average and submit either an automatic or provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships during the indoor or outdoor seasons.

A total of 64 men’s track & field programs earned team All-Academic honors, with Washington University ranking third overall with a team GPA of 3.44. The Washington U. women’s team was one of 111 squads to garner women’s All-Academic honors. With a 3.55 cumulative GPA the Bears tied for the fifth-best mark in Division III. A team must possess at least a 3.1 cumulative GPA in order to receive the honor.