Five PBC Men's Cross Country Runners Named to All-Academic Team

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Five PBC men’s cross country runners were recently named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic team. GCSU place an impressive four players on the team as Josh Hollar, Michael Hague, Richard Alex Pate and Richard Dobson were honored. Columbus State’s Stewart Helton was also on the team, which was made up of 127 runners from 67 institutions.

To qualify for the individual All-Academic honors, the student-athlete must have completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale. The student-athletes must also finish in the top 30 percent of individual participants at their respective regional cross country championships.

The GCSU men’s cross country team is one of the three schools on the list to tie with the highest number of runners with an outstanding four. Michael Hague (Lilburn, Ga.) and Richard Dobson (New Hamburg, Ontario) are two seniors that made the list this year. Hague is majoring in Environmental Science. Dobson was named to the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Team and is an Exercise Science major. Junior Alex Pate (Byron, Ga.) and sophomore Josh Hollar (Canton, Ga.) round out the list for the Bobcats. Pate is a Nursing major while Hollar is majoring in Physical Education. Hollar was also named to the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Team.

Stewart Helton was named PBC All-Conference after finishing fourth at the PBC Championships for the Cougars. A sophomore from Grayson, GA, helped CSU to its second consecutive Peach Belt Conference title in the fall and to another apperance in the NCAA regional. Helton, a biology major at CSU, currently sports a 3.92 GPA. He finished as the Cougars' top finisher at the NCAA regional, finishing 24 overall and getting points for 21st position. His finish helped the Cougar team to a 10th place finish.

Adams State’s Aaron Braun was named the 2007 Division II USTFCCCA Men’s All-Academic Cross Country Athlete of the Year.