Mercy Chelangat Named the USTFCCCA Cross Country National Scholar-Athlete of the Year
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The honors continue to pour in for the Alabama cross country program from both the course and the classroom.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named the Crimson Tide’s Mercy Chelangat the Cross Country National Scholar-Athlete of the Year
The junior from Kericho, Kenya, carries a 3.686 GPA in Public Health and has already been named the Cross Country National Athlete of the Year. She won the individual title at last month’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla. She is the first Crimson Tide student-athlete in program history to earn this honor and is just the second in history from the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama also saw all seven runners on its eighth-place NCAA Championship squad earned All-Academic accolades. The Tide’s list includes All-Americans Chelangat, Esther Gitahi and Amaris Tyynismaa as well as Megan Patton, Jami Reed, Riley Schelp and Sophie Spada.
In addition to the individual honors, both the men’s and women’s teams earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards. The women combined for a 3.86 cumulative team grade point average, while the men turned in a 3.56 cumulative GPA. It is the 18th such honor for the UA men and the 15th for the women, and the seventh in a row for both.
