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 50th nationally and sixth in the MIAA with a 3.502. On the men's side, UNK (3.204) was one of eight MIAA squads to qualify. The national leaders were the Drury men (3.62) and the Cal State San Bernardino women (3.72). There were 263 team qualifiers (149 women and 114 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 2020 indoor season.

The Loper men had five such qualifiers in redshirt freshman thrower Alex Goracke (Giltner) and runners Max Lindgren (Ogallala), Nate Pierce (Lincoln North Star), Seth Simonson (Hastings H.S.) and Luke Stuckey (McCool Junction/York H.S.).  Three UNK women made the cut in thrower Tiara Schmidt (McCook), vaulter Baylie Bryant (Holdrege) and high jumper Alyssa Schlaht (Millard West).