Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney track and field team recently qualified for team and individual academic honors from the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

In order to qualify for the "All-Academic" team award, a program must have at least a 3.00 cumulative grade point average. The Loper women ranked 12th nationally and third in the MIAA with a 3.54; Central Missouri (3.62) and Southwest Baptist (3.56) were just ahead of UNK.

On the men's side, Kearney (3.13) was one of seven MIAA squads to qualify. The national leaders were California's Point Loma men (3.53) and the Truman State women (3.63). There were 209 team qualifiers (130 women and 79 men) overall. 

Individually, a student-athlete must carry at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA and have reached provisional or automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships in either the 2018-19 indoor or outdoor seasons.

The Loper men had four such qualifiers in graduate transfer thrower Zach Brittain (Grand Island), senior thrower Jacob Bartling (Elm Creek), senior vaulter Grant Myers (Cairo) and junior distance runner Corbin Hansen (Deweese)

Five UNK women made the cut in throwers Mackenzie Crowder (Utica), Logan Prater (Colorado Springs) and Tiara Schmidt (McCook), triple jumper Mackenzie Puckett (Grand Island) and hurdler Micheala Hoffman (Fruita, Colo.)