Women’s cross country team, Neuendorf and Timms collect national academic honors

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The Simpson women's cross country teams earned the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team Award for the 2017 season while seniors Courtney Neuendorf and Sadie Timms were recognized as an All-Academic Individuals.

USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic Teams

USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic Individuals

All-Academic Team Award

The women's team earned the award for the 11th straight year, posting an impressive 3.63 cumulative GPA. The mark is good for second in the Iowa Conference, tied for 42nd nationally and is the highest in the history of the program. Simpson wins the award for the 15th time overall.

For a team to be considered for this distinction, it must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional meet and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.10 on a 4.0 scale. Overall, there were 388 teams honored by the USTFCCCA today. Of those teams, 221 of them were women's programs and 167 of them were men's.

All-Academic Individuals

The duo of Neuendorf and Timms are the first Storm women to earn the USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual honor since Jess Christensen in 2006.

A senior from Altoona, Iowa, Neuendorf earns the award for the first time in her career. She finished 54th at the NCAA Central Region Championship in 2017, the best regional finish of her career.

A senior from Ames, Iowa, Timms also earns the award for the first time in her career. She finished 44th at the NCAA Central Region Championship after earning all-conference honors with an 11th-place finish at the IIAC Championships. She became Simpson's first all-conference finisher in seven years.

In order to qualify for this honor, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 and finish in the top 25 percent of their respective regional championship meet.