Feb. 26, 2008

Official USTFCCCA Release in PDF Format

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Ohio men's cross country standout Craig Leon was named to the Academic All-American Team by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) following his outstanding senior season with the Bobcats.

Leon (Van Wert, Ohio), a graduate student in Ohio University's prestigious sports administration master's program, graduated cum laude last year with his bachelor's degree in integrated language arts.

Leon's success in the classroom carried over to the cross country course, as he took first place in two of Ohio's six regular season meets and placed second at the MAC Championships on Oct. 27, 2007. Leon extended his fantastic season by qualifying for the NCAA Nationals after finishing 15^th at the Great Lakes Regional in Bloomington, Ind.

He completed his season by finishing in the top half (106 out of 250) at Nationals with a time of 31:09.40 at Indiana State's 10k LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Leon's season will be remembered for all-time as he etched his name in the Bobcat record books at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 13, 2007. His time of 23:58.00 eclipsed John Mirth's previous 8k record by exactly one second. More recently at the Virginia Tech Men's Challenge last weekend, Leon, running unattached at the meet, shattered the Ohio 5k record with a time of 14:26.14.

"There have been some great runners that have passed through this school and for Craig to have his name near the top of the list and record the best time in school history is really incredible," head coach Clay Calkins said of Leon.

The USTFCCCA Academic All-American nod is just one more of Leon's many post-season awards. The former walk-on earned First-Team All-MAC honors and was named to the All-MAC Academic Team.

"Craig has put in five years of hard work and dedication and to go from a walk-on to a national qualifier is one of an athlete's greatest achievements," Calkins added.

Leon was just one of two athletes from the state of Ohio to be named to the team - Miami's Patrick Sovocool was also selected.

Brian King (Richfield, Minn.) and Carime Reinhart (Boscom, Ohio) were also named to the All-MAC Academic Team this year along with Leon.

This is the second straight season that a member of the Ohio men's track and field or cross country team has been named to the USTFCCCA Academic All-American list.

King was named an Academic All-American by the USTFCCCA following the 2007 track and field season.

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Joe Waltasti is the cross country contact in the Ohio media relations office. He can be reached via email at waltasti@ohio.edu.