Cross Country, Indoor Track Honored by the USTFCCCA

BOSTON, Mass. – Both the Wentworth Institute of Technology cross country and indoor track teams had success during the 2016-2017 seasons and the success on their course and on the track also carried over in the classroom. As recently announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, junior Patrick Hopkins (Lansdale, Pa.) has been named both to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team in cross country and indoor track while classmate Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) earned all-academic honors in cross country. Additionally, the Leopard cross country team was one of 173 men's Division III schools to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors.

Hopkins had a season-best time of 25:26.2 to finish 33rd out of 379 competitors at the NCAA Regionals. At the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship, he finished fourth with a time of 26:52.4 to earn his third straight All-CCC nod. He also recorded Top 10 finishes at the Bowdoin Invitational and Emmanuel College Saints Invitational.

During the Leopards' inaugural indoor track campaign, Hopkins, a Mechanical Engineering major posted personal bests of 4:20.29 in the mile at the Boston University Valentine Invitational, 8:48.42 in the 3,000 meters at the University of Southern Maine Invitational, 15:38.64 in the 5,000 meters at the UMass Boston Indoor Open, and was a part of a distance medley relay team which ran a time of 10:15.21 at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational. At the time, the DMR posted the fastest time in all of Division III.

Robbins is honored by the USTFCCCA for the second season in a row. The Computer Science major ran a season-best time of 25:38.8 to finish 45th at the NCAA Regionals and he had four Top 10 finishes, including finishing third at the CCC Championship with a time of 26:33.4. This earned him All-CCC honors for the third straight season.

Wentworth's cross country team picked up its second straight team academic award after posting a 3.23 grade point average. The Leopards won their second straight CCC Championship and finished 14th out of 56 teams at the NCAA Regionals. During the course of the season the Black & Gold picked up four second-place finishes prior to winning the conference championship.

In order to qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in cross country, an individual must have a minimum 3.30 grade point average and finish in the top 25 percent at their respective NCAA regional. To earn team honors, a team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.10 and have competed and completed its respective NCAA regional. For indoor and outdoor track, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and must have met at least one of the following athletic standards:  competed in an NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Track Championship an/or finished the regular season ranked in the national Top-in an individual event or ranked in the national Top 35 in a relay event on the official NCAA Descending Order List.

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