SIOUX FALLS – The Summit League announced the cross country Academic All-League team that included three South Dakota State JackrabbitsL Kyle Burdick, Chase Cayo and Rachel King.
There were five All-League nominations for both men and women, with SDSU tied with North Dakota State for the most All-League nominations at three each.
For senior Kyle Burdick and junior Chase Cayo, they earned their second consecutive Academic All-League honor of their career in cross country and third overall for Cayo (2018 indoor) and fifth overall for Burdick (2017 indoor and outdoor, 2018 outdoor). Only two other SDSU student-athletes have won multiple Academic All-Leagues: Drew Kraft (2012, 2014) and Joel Reichow (2015, 2016).
As for senior Rachel King, she garnered her third career accolade in cross country and her sixth overall (2017 indoor, 2018 indoor and outdoor). She is the only Jackrabbit to win multiple Academic All-League honors in cross country, being only the third-ever to garner the accolade (Cheyanne Bowers – 2013, Courtney Neubert – 2014).
Burdick and Cayo helped the Jacks bring home the third consecutive Summit League Championship, seventh since joining the league, winning their latest championship by 37 points and notching the school’s lowest point-score since 2007 (23 points).
At the NCAA Midwest Regionals, the team scored a 10th-place finish (288) by having five of the individuals finish in the top-100 of the 208-man race. It is the fifth time the men’s team has finished in the top 10 of the Midwest Regional meet while no other active Summit League school has finished in the top 10 of the their respective region.
King helped the team record helped the women’s team score 61 points in a close team-finish behind South Dakota (won, 51 points) and North Dakota State (second, 52 points). It was the second-closest finish among the top-three schools in the league championships (10-point difference between the winners and third place).
The women’s team tallied the 13th-place mark out of 34 teams at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, scoring a team-low 369 points. With the best point-total ever (beating the previous-lowest of 385 in 2012 - 15th place), the squad etched their name into a tie for the best place-finish in the Midwest Regionals – tying the 13th-place (296 points) 2016 team. The team finished as the second Summit League school in the Midwest Region – beating 2018 runner-up North Dakota State.
SUMMIT LEAGUE
ACADEMIC ALL-LEAGUE
To be eligible for the Academic All-League team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale), completed at least one full academic year at the current institution and participated in 50 percent of their team’s competitions.
