BYU cross country claims All-Academic honors for 2016 season

PROVO, Utah – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named the BYU men’s and women's cross country squads as 2016 Division I All-Academic Teams on Thursday. 

Cougar runners Brayden McLelland and Clayton Young were also named to the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s All-Academic team by the on Thursday for their impressive performances on the race course and in the classroom. 

Student-athlete nominations for the individual honors must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have finished in the top 25 (top 10 percent) at regionals or as an All-American at nationals (top-40 finish). Nominations for the team honors required a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. 

McLelland is a freshman pre-management student and maintains a 3.66 GPA. Following a fifth-place finish at the West Coast Conference Championships, McLelland placed 15th overall at the Mountain Region Championships with a time of 31:16.60 (10k). A little more than a week later, he improved upon that time at the NCAA Cross Country Championships finishing in 110th with a time of 30:57.4.

Young is a sophomore studying mechanical engineering and has a 3.79 cumulative GPA. He took seventh overall at the West Coast Conference Championships, and he placed 23rd overall at the Mountain Region Championships, finishing in 31:21.70. At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Young took 77th overall, also with an improvement from regionals, finishing in 30:43.9.

McLelland and Young helped their team, under head coach Ed Eyestone, claim seventh place overall at the NCAA Championships with a combined 247 points, and BYU finished the 2016 season with a combined 3.29 GPA.

The women's team finished in 10th place at nationals, under the direction of head coach Diljeet Taylor, with a combined 328 points. They finished the 2016 cross country season with a cumulative 3.53 GPA.