Trio secures individual recognition as Knights earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Awards

NEW ORLEANS, La. For the 14th consecutive season, the Carleton College men’s track & field program secured the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team Award. Additionally, Stephen Lavey ’22 (Cedar Grove, Wis./Cedar Grove-Belgium), Ian Mortensen ’24 (Shoreline, Wash./Shorecrest), and Ben Santos ’22 (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) were repeat selections as USTFCCCA Division III All-Academic Athletes.

In NCAA Division III this year, there were 155 men’s programs and 214 women’s teams recognized by the USTFCCCA for academic excellence. Among that group, Carleton is 1 of only 21 schools to have both its men’s and women’s squads record team GPAs of at least 3.60. Additionally, the Knights are 1 of only 2 MIAC programs to have both its men’s and women’s track & field teams own an active academic award streak of more than 12 years.

For individuals to qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Award, the student-athlete must compile a cumulative 3.30 GPA and either:
compete at the NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championships OR
finish the indoor or outdoor regular season ranked among the national top-50 in an individual event or top-35 in a relay event on the NCAA performance list.

Lavey raced twice at Nationals in 2022, competing in the indoor 5000-meter run and the outdoor 10,000-meter run. Mortensen’s name could be found in the top-50 list for the decathlon, while Santos made the national leaderboard in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

This was the third consecutive year that Santos took home the individual USTFCCCA All-Academic Award, while both Lavey and Mortensen were honored for the second straight season.

To be nominated for the overall team award, a Squad must carry a minimum 3.10 cumulative grade-point average. The Carleton men easily cleared that hurdle as they owned a 3.60 cumulative GPA through the 2022 outdoor season, ranking 20th in NCAA Division III. The Knight men have been listed among Division III’s top-20 GPAs an impressive 13 times in the last 14 seasons. Over the same time span, the Carleton Women’s team has notched seven national top-20 GPAs and this year achieved an impressive 3.63 grade-point average.