NEW ORLEANS — The Goshen College men's and women's track and field teams were each named All-Academic Teams by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association last week. The Maple Leafs were one of 49 men's teams and 60 women's teams to receive the honor. Forty-seven schools appeared on both lists.

To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, an institution must have a cumulative team grade-point average above 3.00 on a standard 4-point scale. The calculations include all athletes on the team's eligibility certificate and each athlete's entire college career, not just the 2020-21 academic year.

The Maple Leafs were one of five Crossroads League schools to pick up recognition from the USTFCCCA: Grace College, Huntington University, the University of Saint Francis and Taylor University were the other four. All five institutions had both their men's and women's teams recognized.

In addition, seven Maple Leaf individuals were named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, which included approximately 550 athletes between men's and women's competition. This honor recognizes athletes who have completed at least two semesters with a GPA of 3.25 or greater and also recorded a national qualifying mark during the 2020-21 season.

The seven All-Academic Team honorees were:

• Makayla Collier (senior, Stilesville, Indiana)
• Summer Cooper (freshman, Elkhart, Indiana)
• Annika Fisher (freshman, Staunton, Virginia)
• Simon Graber Miller (junior, Goshen, Indiana)
• Nelson Kemboi (sophomore, Eldoret, Kenya)
• Hannah Kurtz (freshman, Goshen, Indiana)
• Naomi Richer (freshman, Goshen, Indiana)

The Maple Leafs concluded the 2020-21 season with the men taking 39th place and the women finishing 68th at the NAIA outdoor track and field championships. The teams were 44th and 81st respectively at indoor nationals while the men also finished 22nd in cross country, becoming the first GC program in school history to qualify for nationals as a unit in two consecutive seasons.

Many of Goshen's athletes will return to campus in August to begin the 2021 cross country season, with the remainder waiting until November to begin competition in track and field. Stay tuned to GoLeafs.net for the latest updates from all 14 Goshen College athletic programs.