• 2009 Academic All-District Honorees By CoSIDA (PDF)

Former Evansville Central High School standout and current University of Evansville senior-to-be cross country runner Brian Joyce was honored for his work both on and off of the cross country course on Thursday, as he received ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V honors for cross country and track by CoSIDA.  Joyce is now a finalist for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

Joyce, who currently owns a perfect 4.00 grade point average in exercise science at UE, was one of 11 male cross country and track standouts to earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V honors in a vote of the district’s sports information directors.  He is the first male cross country runner in school history to earn Academic All-District V honors and is just the second UE cross country runner to earn the award, joining UE Hall of Fame runner Kim Horvath, who garnered Academic All-District honors on the women’s side in 1986.

“This is a tremendous honor for Brian, and I could not be more proud of him,” said UE head cross country coach Don Walters.  “Brian works extremely hard in the classroom, and he deserves every academic honor he receives because of how hard he works and how well he is able to balance classwork with running and maintaining a social life.  He is the epitome of what the UE cross country program stands for, and again, I could not be more proud of him for earning this award.”

On the cross country course this past year, Joyce earned UE’s Most Improved Runner award after cutting nearly 25 seconds off of both his previous-best 8-K and 10-K times this season.  He raced in UE’s top three in all eight meets this season, including posting a fifth-place individual finish at the Tennessee Tech Invitational and a ninth-place finish at the Earl Jacoby Memorial.  Academically, Joyce received the Missouri Valley Conference’s Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award for his work in the classroom this year.  It is the league’s highest academic award for non-seniors.

Joyce is now one of 89 male cross country and track student-athletes from across Division I who are eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.  Voting for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors will begin on Tuesday, June 9.

To be eligible for Academic All-District status, a student-athlete must compile at least a 3.30 grade point average and have achieved sophomore athletic and academic status at their respective institution.  Among the 11 Academic All-District V honorees, however, 3.63 was the lowest cumulative grade point average among the 10 non-graduate students selected (one graduate student was selected as well).