Women’s Track and Field Team, Five Individuals Garner USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

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Photo by: John Fajardo

Women’s Track and Field Team, Five Individuals Garner USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

7/18/2022 11:10:00 AM | Track and Field

The women’s track and field have now earned All-Academic status for 26 consecutive years.

By: Collin Robinson, Associate Athletics Communications Director

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Long Beach State women's track and field earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the 2021-22 academic year. The Beach also saw five student-athletes garnering the award on an individual level.

This marks the 26th consecutive year, the women's track and field has earned All-Academic status which is tied for the most in the award's history. This year, the team posted a 3.251 cumulative team GPA.

Under Director of Track and Field Andy Sythe, his teams have garnered this honor a total of 36 times.

Individually for the women, Ryley Fick and Clare Gibson earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors. Fick made history this past season, becoming the first Long Beach State women's track athlete to earn Big West Athlete of the Year honors. A junior athletically, she will return to the Beach for one more season next year. Gibson finished her Beach career as an NCAA West Prelim qualifier in 2021 earning her degree in Nutrition and Dietetics.

On the men's side, All-America Honorable Mention Jason Smith along with throwers Alec Jones and Charlie Vernoy were named USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees. Smith finished his LBSU career this past spring as one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history with his Master's degree in Sports Management. A three-time NCAA West Prelim qualifier, Vernoy also finished his Beach career this past spring earning his Master's in Kinesiology. The third and final men's representative, Jones ended his senior year as a two-time Prelim qualifier with a degree in Health Science and a minor in Finance.

To earn All-Academic status, a team must combine for a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. For an individual, an athlete must maintain a GPA of 3.25 or higher and compete in the NCAA DI Indoor/Outdoor Championships.