Colorado University Athletics
Hurta and Benner Named Google Cloud Second Team All-Americans
June 27, 2019 | Cross Country, General, Track and Field, Herbst Academic Center
BOULDER – The University of Colorado track and field and cross country programs had a pair of student-athletes, senior Kaitlyn Benner and junior Sage Hurta, named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-America Second Team, CoSIDA announced Thursday.
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Benner earns her second Academic All-America honor after being named a Third Team Academic All-American last year. She is one of 13 individuals this season to repeat as two-time honorees, finishing her career with a 3.95 GPA in Chemical and Bio engineering. Benner moves up to Second Team Academic All-America honor in the same week that she was named the Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal Winner as CU's outstanding senior female student-athlete.
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The Colorado-native concludes her career as one of the most decorated student-athlete in and out of the classroom for the Buffs track team. Benner was named the 2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year and the 2019 Pac-12 Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. She was also a six-time All-American as a Buff and finishes with four top-10 marks in school history.
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Hurta was named to her first Academic All-America honor, earning second team honors with a 3.97 GPA in Chemical and Bio engineering. Hurta was a pivotal part of the 2018 NCAA Cross Country National Championships this fall, placing 22nd overall for her fourth All-American honor.
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Despite redshirting this indoor and outdoor season, Hurta ran a school record with a win at the Music City Distance Festival in the women's 800 in a time of 2:00.99, taking down the first of Jenny Simpson's seven school records. She also ran the fourth-fastest 1,500 in school history in 4:09.33 this spring when she placed second at Bryan Clay with the second-fastest time in the world at the moment.
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Hurta becomes the 61st Academic All-American in Colorado history and the eighth woman for CU track and cross country. Benner becomes just the third CU track woman to repeat, joining three-time honorees Kelly Smith and Jenny (Barringer) Simpson. She also becomes the 14th CU student-athlete to earn more than one honor.
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Arkansas' Lexi Jacobus and Wisconsin's Morgan McDonald were named the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team Members of the Year. Jacobus was a 2016 Olympian and a four-time NCAA champion in the pole vault with a 4.00 GPA in biochemistry. McDonald won four NCAA titles this year, the cross country individual title, indoor 3,000 and 5,000 and outdoor 5,000. He has a 3.76 GPA in finance and investment and banking major.
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Among the 90 student-athletes selected to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Cross Country/Track & Field teams, 20 men and 33 women carry a 4.0 grade-point average or higher, including all 15 women on the first team. The 15 members of the men's cross country/track & field team carry an average GPA of 3.98, while the women's team carry a 4.04 GPA.
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Benner earns her second Academic All-America honor after being named a Third Team Academic All-American last year. She is one of 13 individuals this season to repeat as two-time honorees, finishing her career with a 3.95 GPA in Chemical and Bio engineering. Benner moves up to Second Team Academic All-America honor in the same week that she was named the Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal Winner as CU's outstanding senior female student-athlete.
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The Colorado-native concludes her career as one of the most decorated student-athlete in and out of the classroom for the Buffs track team. Benner was named the 2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year and the 2019 Pac-12 Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. She was also a six-time All-American as a Buff and finishes with four top-10 marks in school history.
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Hurta was named to her first Academic All-America honor, earning second team honors with a 3.97 GPA in Chemical and Bio engineering. Hurta was a pivotal part of the 2018 NCAA Cross Country National Championships this fall, placing 22nd overall for her fourth All-American honor.
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Despite redshirting this indoor and outdoor season, Hurta ran a school record with a win at the Music City Distance Festival in the women's 800 in a time of 2:00.99, taking down the first of Jenny Simpson's seven school records. She also ran the fourth-fastest 1,500 in school history in 4:09.33 this spring when she placed second at Bryan Clay with the second-fastest time in the world at the moment.
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Hurta becomes the 61st Academic All-American in Colorado history and the eighth woman for CU track and cross country. Benner becomes just the third CU track woman to repeat, joining three-time honorees Kelly Smith and Jenny (Barringer) Simpson. She also becomes the 14th CU student-athlete to earn more than one honor.
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Arkansas' Lexi Jacobus and Wisconsin's Morgan McDonald were named the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team Members of the Year. Jacobus was a 2016 Olympian and a four-time NCAA champion in the pole vault with a 4.00 GPA in biochemistry. McDonald won four NCAA titles this year, the cross country individual title, indoor 3,000 and 5,000 and outdoor 5,000. He has a 3.76 GPA in finance and investment and banking major.
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Among the 90 student-athletes selected to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Cross Country/Track & Field teams, 20 men and 33 women carry a 4.0 grade-point average or higher, including all 15 women on the first team. The 15 members of the men's cross country/track & field team carry an average GPA of 3.98, while the women's team carry a 4.04 GPA.
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Players Mentioned
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