Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Gary Breedlove
Benner, Saarel Earn CoSIDA All-America Honors
June 21, 2018 | Track and Field
BOULDER – The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced the 2017-18 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Cross Country/Track and Field teams today, and two University of Colorado athletes earned spots.
Salt Lake City native Ben Saarel was named to the men's first team. Saarel graduated in May with a 3.98 grade point average in engineering physics. Saarel was also named to the second team for the 2015-2016 season and the third team for the 2014-2015 season. During the indoor season, he was selected to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) All-Academic team.
During his time at CU, Saarel was a five time All-American, three time academic All-American, and the 2018 Pac-12 Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was also the 2018 Pac-12 5k Champion.
Saarel completed his last indoor track season with a 10th place finish in the men's 3k at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, finishing with a time of 8:10.05.
He ended his outdoor track campaign by winning the Pac-12 title in the men's 5k run and on the same day was named the Pac-12 Men's Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. Saarel is the school record holder in the men's 1,500 with a time 3:38.40. He finished his career at CU at the NCAA West Preliminaries, finishing 22nd in the men's 1,500 with a time of 3:49.62.
Superior, Colo. native Kaitlyn Benner was named to the women's third team. Benner maintains a 3.93 GPA in her chemical and biological engineering major and sociology minor. This is Benner's first time being named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, but she was also named to the CoSIDA All-District First Team in 2016 and 2018, earned Academic All-MPSF honors in 2016 and 2017, and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic first team in 2016.
During her 2017 cross country season, Benner helped CU take home their third Pac-12 team title with an eighth place individual finish. She also finished 14th at regionals and earned her third All-America cross country honor at NCAAs with a 36th place finish. Benner currently holds the third fastest time in CU history in the women's 10k at 32:45.05.
Most recently, Benner earned first team All-America honors at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the women's 10k. This was Benner's third All-America title. Other notable career highs for Benner include the 2016 Pac-12 Champion in the women's 5k and in 2017 she was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
To earn a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America teams, student-athletes must be a critical member of their team, maintain a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale at his/her institution, and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's competitions.
For more information on CoSIDA and this honor visit the CoSIDA website.
Salt Lake City native Ben Saarel was named to the men's first team. Saarel graduated in May with a 3.98 grade point average in engineering physics. Saarel was also named to the second team for the 2015-2016 season and the third team for the 2014-2015 season. During the indoor season, he was selected to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) All-Academic team.
During his time at CU, Saarel was a five time All-American, three time academic All-American, and the 2018 Pac-12 Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was also the 2018 Pac-12 5k Champion.
Saarel completed his last indoor track season with a 10th place finish in the men's 3k at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, finishing with a time of 8:10.05.
He ended his outdoor track campaign by winning the Pac-12 title in the men's 5k run and on the same day was named the Pac-12 Men's Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. Saarel is the school record holder in the men's 1,500 with a time 3:38.40. He finished his career at CU at the NCAA West Preliminaries, finishing 22nd in the men's 1,500 with a time of 3:49.62.
Superior, Colo. native Kaitlyn Benner was named to the women's third team. Benner maintains a 3.93 GPA in her chemical and biological engineering major and sociology minor. This is Benner's first time being named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, but she was also named to the CoSIDA All-District First Team in 2016 and 2018, earned Academic All-MPSF honors in 2016 and 2017, and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic first team in 2016.
During her 2017 cross country season, Benner helped CU take home their third Pac-12 team title with an eighth place individual finish. She also finished 14th at regionals and earned her third All-America cross country honor at NCAAs with a 36th place finish. Benner currently holds the third fastest time in CU history in the women's 10k at 32:45.05.
Most recently, Benner earned first team All-America honors at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the women's 10k. This was Benner's third All-America title. Other notable career highs for Benner include the 2016 Pac-12 Champion in the women's 5k and in 2017 she was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
To earn a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America teams, student-athletes must be a critical member of their team, maintain a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale at his/her institution, and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's competitions.
For more information on CoSIDA and this honor visit the CoSIDA website.
Players Mentioned
Distance
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Distance
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