17 Buffs Earn Pac-12 All-Academic Honors

SAN FRANCISCO — Awards continue to roll in for the Colorado cross country teams as 17 individuals were named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Teams.

The men placed a total of 10 athletes on the team with two earning first team honors, one second team recognition and seven on the honorable mention squad. The women also placed a pair on the first team, one on the second team and four received honorable mention status.

Senior Ben Saarel (Salt Lake City, Utah) led Colorado with his second selection to the first team. Saarel, an engineering physics major, has recorded a very impressive 3.97 GPA. He is joined on the first team by juniors Kaitlyn Benner (Superior, Colo.) and Adam Peterman (Missoula, Mont.), as well as redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Caldwell (Columbus, Ind.). Benner, a chemical and biological engineering major, owns a 3.90 GPA, while Caldwell has earned a 3.89 GPA as an accounting major. Peterman, an environmental studies and geology double-major has recorded a 3.77 GPA.

Colorado's second team members are junior Paul Miller (Fort Collins, Colo.), a neuroscience and ecology & evolutionary biology double-major with a 3.67 GPA, and redshirt junior Melanie Nun (Broomfield, Colo.), who is in the process of earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics and currently owns a 3.80 GPA.

The Buffs had 11 athletes named to the honorable mention team. Those Buffs are: Erin Clark (Eugene, Ore.), Ryan Forsyth (Severna Park, Md.), Reilly Friedman (Atlanta, Ga.), Ethan Gonzales (Westminster, Colo.), Chris Herrick (Missoula, Mont.), Dani Jones (Phoenix, Ariz.), Joe Klecker (Minnetonka, Minn.), Karina Mann (Louisville, Colo.), Christian Martin (Littleton, Colo.), Lucy May (St. Louis, Mo.) and Justice Ramos (Dolores, Colo.).

Earlier this season Clark and Saarel were named the Pac-12 Cross Country Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete needs to have a minimum 3.00 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor to the team.

2016 PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS
First Team
Kaitlyn Benner (second selection)
Mackenzie Caldwell

Second Team
Melanie Nun (second overall selection)

Honorable Mention
Erin Clark (third selection)
Dani Jones
Karina Mann
Lucy May (third overall selection)

2016 PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS
First Team
Adam Peterman (second overall selection)
Ben Saarel (second selection)

Second Team
Paul Miller (second selection)