Building a legacy of athletic success on the foundation of hard work and determination, the men’s and women’s track and field teams at Minot State proved that those attributes translate seamlessly to the classroom this week when celebrated by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for their academic achievements.

Acknowledging its Scholar Athletes and Scholar Teams for both the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, the USTFCCCA bestowed All-Academic honors on both Beaver track and field programs.

Per USTFCCCA-designated standards, a team must sustain an average cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for all of its members to qualify for recognition.

Meeting these benchmarks, the Minot State men’s track and field team combined to tally a cumulative average GPA of 3.051, while the women’s team posted an impressive 3.129 cumulative average GPA.

In addition to both Beavers track and field programs gaining academic kudos from the USTFCCCA, several individual student-athletes from both teams were saluted for their academic excellence by the organization as well.

Mandating even more rigorous prerequisites than those applied to collegiate teams as a whole, for a student-athlete to qualify for individual All-Academic Team honors, they must have completed their freshman season, have achieved an NCAA qualifying mark, and maintain a 3.25 cumulative GPA or higher.

Earning this individual title for the Beavers men’s track and field team during the 2021-2022 season was junior standout Jacob Jensen. The Belcourt, North Dakota native and Computer Science major attained his NCAA provisional national qualifying mark with a finishing time of 4 minutes, 9.75 seconds in the indoor mile.

Representing the women’s track and field program for MSU and notching All-Academic Team honors were freshmen Jenna Hardy and Kori Nagel.

Hardy, a Radiologic Technology major from Minot, hit her NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 45 feet, 3.75 inches in the indoor shot put.

Meanwhile, Nagel, a Nursing major from Center, North Dakota, hurled a 155 feet, 7 inches throw in outdoor discus to serve as her NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Ultimately, Nagel would conclude the 2021-2022 season with a trip to nationals, where she would finish 16th in the nation.