FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference announced the 2020 Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Academic All-Conference teams Tuesday.
Central Arkansas leads the way with five selections on the 30-member men’s squad, followed by McNeese and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with four honorees each. UIW and Sam Houston State tacked on three members apiece, while Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist, Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana each accounted for a pair of honorees. Nicholls, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin closed out the men’s team with one student-athletes each.
A total of 13 male student-athletes made their return to the all-academic squad, including Lamar’s Matthew Arnold, who earned an automatic selection after being named a 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. Abilene Christian’s Ross Dean, Central Arkansas’ Hunter Henderson and McNeese’s Nemanja Koviljac and Josh Raphael all topped the men’s roster with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
The women’s side was led by Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin, earning six spots each on the academic all-conference lineup. McNeese came in next with five selections, followed by four honorees apiece from UIW and Northwestern State. Central Arkansas accounted for a trio of student-athletes, followed by Houston Baptist and Sam Houston State, which garnered two spots apiece. Lamar, New Orleans, Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi round out the women’s roster with one honoree each.
Of the 36 members on the women’s squad, 11 are making repeat appearances, including three-time selections Irene Akwitti (ACU), Alanna Arvie (MCN) and Jasmyn Steels (NSU). A staggering 14 of the 36 women’s honorees earned unblemished 4.0 GPAs.
Southland Conference Track & Field All-Academic Teams are selected by a 50-percent rule. Of the total number of nominees, half are named all-academic selections. Honorees are nominated and voted upon by head coaches, sports information directors, and academic staff members from each university.
2020 Southland Conference Men’s Track & Field Academic All-Conference Team
| Name | School | Cl. | GPA | Major |
| Blaze Brownlow3 | Abilene Christian | Sr. | 3.77 | Financial Management |
| Ross Dean | Abilene Christian | Jr. | 4.0 | Financial Management |
| Zac Bitton | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 3.72 | Business Management & Marketing |
| Jared Hamilton2 | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 3.70 | Health Professions & Relate Programs |
| Alex Hanson2 | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 3.49 | Business Management & Marketing |
| Hunter Henderson | Central Arkansas | So. | 4.0 | Health Related Knowledge & Skills |
| Zachary Jewell2 | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 3.63 | Biological & Biomedical Sciences |
| Scott Boon | Houston Baptist | So. | 3.76 | International Business |
| Christos Zachariou2 | Houston Baptist | Sr. | 3.96 | Psychology |
| Jordan Cherin2 | UIW | Sr. | 3.96 | Computer Information Systems |
| Matthew Hernandez | UIW | Jr. | 3.57 | Accounting |
| Rodney Littlejohn3 | UIW | Gr. | 3.93 | Kinesiology |
| Matthew Arnold*^2 | Lamar | Gr. | 3.68 | English |
| Jordan Rowe | Lamar | Gr. | 3.90 | Kinesiology |
| Joey Croft | McNeese | So. | 3.83 | HHP – Sports Wellness & Management |
| Luke Horgan | McNeese | Sr. | 3.50 | Marketing |
| Nemanja Koviljac3 | McNeese | Sr. | 4.0 | Chemical Engineering |
| Josh Raphael | McNeese | Jr. | 4.0 | Mass Communication |
| Dustin Worley | Nicholls | So. | 3.83 | Chemistry |
| Marco Arevalo | Northwestern State | So. | 3.51 | Business Administration |
| Clayton Fritsch2 | Sam Houston State | Jr. | 3.25 | Construction Management |
| Cade Skuza | Sam Houston State | Sr. | 3.85 | Construction Management |
| Austin Zirkel | Sam Houston State | Jr. | 3.91 | Criminal Justice |
| Gerald Coleman2 | Southeastern Louisiana | Sr. | 3.01 | Sports Management |
| Ricardo Klotz | Southeastern Louisiana | So. | 3.30 | Psychology |
| Branson Ellis | Stephen F. Austin | So. | 3.15 | Ag Engineering Technology |
| Bjoern Adden2 | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Sr. | 3.97 | Business Management |
| Colton Cohea2 | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Sr. | 3.71 | Mechanical Engineering |
| Zachary Seaman | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | So. | 3.94 | Business |
| Isaac Vargas | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Sr. | 3.80 | Engineering |
2020 Southland Conference Women’s Track & Field Academic All-Conference Team
| Name | School | Cl. | GPA | Major |
| Irene Akwitti3 | Abilene Christian | Sr. | 3.71 | Nursing |
| Annina Brandenburg2 | Abilene Christian | Sr. | 3.73 | Marketing |
| Briahna Gerlach2 | Abilene Christian | Sr. | 3.64 | Social Work |
| Zoe Spinn | Abilene Christian | Jr. | 3.92 | Nursing |
| Taylor Tolen | Abilene Christian | Sr. | 3.67 | Kinesiology |
| Mackenzie West | Abilene Christian | Gr. | 3.00 | Nutrition |
| Ajah Criner2 | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 3.31 | Health Professions & Related Programs |
| Gracie Hyde | Central Arkansas | So. | 4.0 | Health Related Knowledge & Skills |
| Erin Woodward2 | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 4.0 | Health Professions & Related Programs |
| Kaitlin Smith2 | Houston Baptist | Jr. | 3.97 | Kinesiology |
| Jemira Thomlinson | Houston Baptist | Sr. | 3.26 | Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Alia Henderson | UIW | So. | 3.75 | Government |
| Madison Henry | UIW | Jr. | 4.0 | Management |
| Alisa Novosad | UIW | So. | 4.0 | Rehabilitative Sciences |
| Katherine Ramirez | UIW | R-Sr. | 3.50 | Business Administration |
| Julie Emmerson | Lamar | Gr. | 4.0 | Kinesiology |
| Alanna Arvie3 | McNeese | Sr. | 4.0 | Biology – Pre-med. |
| Brentney Carroll | McNeese | Sr. | 4.0 | Graduate Studies |
| Aleyah Donald2 | McNeese | Sr. | 4.0 | Criminal Justice |
| Ciara Gilroy | McNeese | So. | 4.0 | HHP – Pre-Physical Therapy |
| Malayia Jedkins | McNeese | So. | 4.0 | Nursing |
| Arina Kleshchukova | New Orleans | Jr. | 3.71 | Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Omo Oboh | Nicholls | So. | 3.18 | Nursing |
| Annemarie Broussard | Northwestern State | So. | 3.70 | Health & Exercise Science |
| Natashia Jackson | Northwestern State | Sr. | 3.00 | Psychology |
| Brooke Petkovich2 | Northwestern State | Sr. | 4.0 | Health & Exercise Science |
| Jasmyn Steels3 | Northwestern State | Gr. | 3.25 | Sports Administration |
| Sandy Clarkin | Sam Houston State | Jr. | 3.94 | Kinesiology |
| Rebeca Gonzalez | Sam Houston State | Sr. | 4.0 | Health Care Administration |
| Kaylee Bizzell | Stephen F. Austin | Sr. | 3.50 | Nursing |
| Claire Crone | Stephen F. Austin | Sr. | 3.97 | Mathematics |
| Mallory Dotson | Stephen F. Austin | Jr. | 4.0 | Kinesiology |
| Avery Ellis-Byerly | Stephen F. Austin | Jr. | 4.0 | Kinesiology |
| Kelsey Ramirez2 | Stephen F. Austin | Jr. | 3.86 | Kinesiology |
| LaSean Davis | Stephen F. Austin | Jr. | 3.17 | Kinesiology |
| Allyson Girard | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Sr. | 3.49 | Biomedical Science |
* Automatic selection
2 Two-time all-academic selection
3 Three-time all-academic selection
^ Google Cloud Academic All-District selection
{Courtesy: Press Release from the Southland Conference}