BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser Red Leafs track and field program was recognized for its academic and athletic accomplishments Thursday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Four individuals were named NCAA Division II All-Academic Athletes, while the Red Leafs women's squad – with a 3.09 grade point average on a 4.00 scale – was honoured as an NCAA Div. II All-Academic Team.
 
Psychology student Erika Binder (Calgary) and business administration major Diana Voloshin (Vancouver) were women's track and field All-Academic Athletes.
 
This season, Binder won Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles in the outdoor 400-meter hurdles and the indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relays. She was a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Div. II Championship in all three of those events.
 
Voloshin was second at the conference outdoor championship in the 100-m hurdles, and helped SFU win the 4x100-m relay. She set provisional qualifying times both events.
 
Behavioural neuroscience student Ephrem Mekonnen (Burnaby, B.C.) and Jordan Schmidt, a business and psychology joint major from Langley, B.C., were SFU's men's honourees.
 
Mekonnen was eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 3,000- and 5,000-m runs at the GNAC indoor championship in February. He posted a provisional qualifying time of 8:18.32 in the 3,000 in January.
 
Schmidt was on the Red Leafs' distance medley relay squad that captured the GNAC title, and then placed 12th at the NCAA Div. II Indoor Track and Field Championships. The team earned a spot at the nationals via a top five time of 9:42.77 recorded in January. Individually, Schmidt ranked inside the NCAA Div. II's top 40 in the 800 meters.
 
His results in the event:
Eighth at the 2023 GNAC Indoor Championships in February (ran 1:52.06 in January for an NCAA provisional qualifying time)
Seventh at the 2023 GNAC Outdoor Championships in May (ran 1:50.43 in March for an NCAA provisional qualifying time)
 
The SFU women's team, led by head coach Brit Townsend, was third in the standings at the GNAC's indoor and outdoor events. The Red Leafs tied for 23rd at the NCAA outdoor championships, and tied for 29th at the indoor meet. Sprinter Marie-Éloïse Leclair had four All-America performances this season. At the NCAA indoor meet, she was seventh in the 60 m, and fifth in the 200 m. Leclair then placed third in the 200 m and fifth in the 100 m to conclude the season at the outdoor NCAAs. She also broke the GNAC record in five of six sprint events this season (indoor 60, 200 and 400 m and outdoor 100 and 200 m).
 
To merit USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete recognition, individuals must meet several criteria:

• Minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.25 on a 4.0 scale through the end of the semester of competition. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0]. Data must be certifiable by the institution's registrar.
• Must have completed at least 24 semester hours/36 quarter hours through the end of the semester of competition at the institution.
• Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.
• The student-athlete must have achieved an automatic or provisional qualifying mark (individual or relay event) for either the indoor season or outdoor season.

 
An All-Academic Team has to meet the following criteria:

• The cumulative GPA (not 2022-23 academic year, not semester) for all student-athletes on the institution's NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, certifiable by the institution's registrar. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0].
• Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.

 
Schmidt and Voloshin were also recognized Thursday as winners of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Barnes & Noble College. The FAR Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes all student-athletes listed on any squad at a GNAC institution, regardless of whether the sport is a GNAC championship sport, that have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 or greater. 

For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.

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