View the USTFCCCA Official Release
NEW ORLEANS – Senior Tonya Nero, who won the Missouri Valley Conference women’s cross country title, added another accolade to her trophy case as the Trinidad and Tobago native was one of 99 athletes named to the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
Sheila Ried of Villanova was named the D-I Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year as she won the individual championship at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Reid was also the Big East Conference champion and a winner at the Penn State National.
Nero had one of greatest seasons in Wichita State University cross country history as she cruised to the Valley title at the Shockers home course, the RAFT, in Augusta, Kan., in October. Nero continued to build on that success and put herself in the Shocker record books with a 16th place finish at the NCAA Championships, the highest placement ever for a WSU athlete at that meet. Nero, who earned all-American honors, finished her WSU cross country career with two all-conference and all-region awards, an individual Valley championship and two team championships while also being named a Valley Scholar-Athlete Team. Nero holds a 3.80 grade-point average while majoring in biological science with a focus in chemistry.
View the full list of All-Academic Team winners.