Sooners Make the Grade in the Classroom

NORMAN – By many measures, the 2014 cross country season was one of the best in recent years. The quality of the year took another step up Wednesday when two Sooners and the OU women's team received All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Junior Brandon Doughty and sophomore Brittany Tretbar earned individual honors and the Sooner women were named an All-American team.

This marks the first time for either runner to earn individual honors. To receive the individual award, a runner must have compiled a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have finished in the top 15 (or 10 percent) at regionals or as an All-American at the national meet. Team honors required a cumulative team GPA of at least a 3.00 and at least five runners competing at an NCAA regional meet.

Doughty finished ninth at the NCAA Midwest Regional and has a 3.76 grade point average in multidisciplinary studies. Tretbar finished in the top 10 percent, finishing 19^th out of 222 runners. She has a 3.39 GPA in public relations.

The Sooner men finished sixth at the Midwest Regional after earning a second-place finish at the Big 12. The OU women finished ninth at the regional after posting an all-time best team finish of fifth in the Big 12 Championships. Doughty and Tretbar earned All-Midwest Regional honors for the first time in their Sooner careers. Doughty added his second All-Big 12 honor with an eighth-place finish while Tretbar picked up her first after finishing 10th.

Doughty added his third consecutive Academic All-Big 12 first team award and received special recognition for two consecutive semesters of a 4.00 GPA.

A total of 179 men's teams and 222 women's teams earned the team award while 153 women and 91 men earned individual honors. The Sooner women were one of eight Big 12 squads to earn the honor while six conference men's teams were honored. Doughty was one of four Big 12 runners to earn an individual award while 13 Big 12 women were honored.