NEW ORLEANS, LA – Six members of the University of Rochester women's cross country team received  United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (UTFCCCA) All-Academic Honors, while the women's team as a whole scored All-Academic Team recognition as announced by the USTFCCCA on Thursday.
 
UR graduate student Kat Benninger, seniors Alicia Lawson, Sab Lin and Ellie Ponko, junior Riley Joseph and first-year Maria Khalifeh all were recognized for their performance both on the course and in the classroom.
 
To qualify for individual All-Academic honors, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 on a 4.0 scale and finish in the top 25 percent of their respective regional championship meet.
 
Teams must have a cumulative GPA of 3.1 on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period, among other qualifiers to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Team recognition. As a team, the Yellowjacket women tallied a 3.74 cumulative GPA.
 
All six earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors for their efforts at the Niagara Regional, as the 'Jackets placed six finishers in the top 30, with Ponko qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships.
 
Ponko led the 'Jackets with a 10th-place finish at regionals, while Lin finished 19th, Joseph and Lawson placed 24th and 25th, respectively, and Benninger and Khalifeh rounded our UR's top-six runners with 29th and 30th-place results.