All Business on the Track and in the Classroom

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In recognition of their performance in the classroom, University of Arkansas men’s track and field has been named the indoor and outdoor 2015 Scholar Team of the Year for the first time in program history announced Friday by the USTFCCCA.

Since its 2007 debut the Scholar Team of the Year award has been presented to the highest-placing team with at least a cumulative team grade point average of 3.00 represented at the indoor or outdoor NCAA Division I Championships. 123 teams were in contention for this season’s award.

2015 three-time NCAA champion Omar McLeod led the way for the Razorbacks third place finish at the indoor and outdoor national meets. McLeod earned first-team All-American honors in five events across both seasons, winning three and setting an NCAA record in one during the collegiate season.

Arkansas junior Jarrion Lawson also scored for the team at both championships but really showcased his abilities at the outdoor meet. The Texarkana native jumped into the history books becoming only the seventh male collegian to ever place in four events at an NCAA championship. Lawson was a member of the winning 4×100-meter relay team, a runner-up in long jump, a bronze medalist at 100 meters and a sixth place finisher with the 4×400-meter relay team.

H. Boyd McWhorter Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Nathanael Franks led the way for nine Razorback individual All-Academic honorees. The second team All-American decathlete finished the spring term with a 3.76 GPA in accounting.

4×100-meter relay champions Kenzo Cotton and Lawson picked up individual honors with a 3.51 and 3.41 GPA in kinesiology respectively.

Arkansas freshman Austen Dalquist was the only Razorback to earn the All-Academic title in both cross country and track and field. Dalquist ran the 1200-meter leg on the indoor All-American distance medley relay team. The business economics major was honored for his 3.67 GPA.

Rounding out the nine, were decathlete Lane Austell with a 3.42 in mathematics and physics, sprinter Eric Janise with a 3.27 in economics, jumpers Kurt Jenner with a 3.4 in kinesiology and Ken LeGassey with a 3.29 in finance, and CoSIDA second team Academic All-American Andrew Pisechko with a perfect 4.0 in accounting.

USTFCCCA All-Academic
Lane Austell – Mathematics and Physics
Kenzo Cotton – Kinesiology
Austen Dalquist – Business Economics
Nathanael Franks – Accounting
Eric Janise – Economics
Kurt Jenner – Kinesiology
Jarrion Lawson – Kinesiology
Ken LeGassey – Finance
Andrew Pisechko – Accounting

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.