Navy’s Kevin Murray and Bucknell’s Christine Bendzinski earn Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Navy sophomore Kevin Murray and Bucknell senior Christine Bendzinski were selected as the men’s and women’s Corvias Patriot League Cross Country Scholar-Athletes of the Year when honors were announced by the League office on Friday afternoon. Murray and Bendzinski also highlight the men’s and women’s Academic All-Patriot League Cross Country teams.
The Corvias Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Academic All-Patriot League Teams honor student-athletes who excel in their sport and in the classroom. The awards are voted on by Patriot League cross country sports information directors, who could not select their own student-athletes.
Murray helped Navy to a second-place finish at the Patriot League Championship, finishing fifth overall with a time of 24:25.25 to earn First Team All-League honors. During the 2017 cross country season, he was a two-time M-F Athletic Patriot League Runner of the Week. In the classroom the sophomore mechanical engineering major carries a 3.89 grade point average (GPA). Murray recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA while carrying a 19-credit course load last spring and currently ranks 89th out of 1,145 in the USNA Class of 2020 overall Order of Merit. Murray was a 2016 Patriot League Cross Country Academic Honor Roll selection.
Bendzinski - a two-time Patriot League Individual Champion - led the Bison to their third-straight League title. Her 6K time of 20:52.42 at last week’s Patriot League Cross Country Championship meet was almost three seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. The 17-time All-Patriot League performer in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field is one of the most highly-decorated Patriot League student-athletes of all-time. Her athletic achievements are equaled by her academic success, as a six-time Academic All-Patriot League award winner and 2017 Patriot League Indoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year. The biology/biochemistry major carries a 3.80 GPA, is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District and has earned USTFCCA All-Academic Team accolades.
In addition to Murray, Navy added two more members to the academic all-League team, with sophomore Jake Brophy, a Second Team All-Patriot League honoree and senior Josh Hanna. Brophy finished in eighth-place at the League championship with a time of 24:26.10 and carries a 3.71 GPA in computer science. Senior teammate Josh Hanna, a nuclear engineering major with a 3.90 GPA, has also been a three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll pick.
American junior Matthew Rainey earned Second Team All-Patriot League with a 10th-place finish in the championship meet with a personal record time of 24:33.54. He carries a 3.57 GPA in communications, law, economics & government.
Eight-time League champion Army West Point is represented by sophomore Ben Petrella. Petrella earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors with a 12th-place finish at the championship meet in a time of 24:42.40. He holds a 4.003 GPA in chemical engineering and earned the USMA Superintendent’s Award for Excellence.
Bucknell senior Kyle Adams earns his first academic all-League squad selection, carrying a 4.0 GPA, as an economics and comparative humanities major. He was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team last season.
Lehigh senior Patrick Reilly earns a spot on the Academic All-Patriot League Team for the third-consecutive season. The 2016 All-Patriot League Second Team honoree carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in political science. Reilly has been named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team five-times. Lehigh sophomore teammate Jeffrey Kirshenbaum finished 11th overall at the Patriot League Championship to earn second-team honors, while carrying a 4.0 GPA as a psychology major. He is also a two-time member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team.
League champion Bucknell adds juniors Colleen Buckley and Jenna Farmer to the team, along with Bendzinski. Buckley earned First Team All-Patriot League honors for the second-straight year with a third-place time of 20:56.01. The animal behavior major carries a 3.54 GPA and was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll last season. Farmer, a second-team all-League finisher, with a time of 21:43.67, also carries a 3.91 GPA in cell biology and biochemistry.
Sophomore Bethany Nunnery helped lead Army West Point to a second-place team finish at the League championship meet, earning first-team all-League honors with a seventh-place time of 21:34.77. Nunnery carries 3.478 GPA, majoring in kinesiology.
Boston University junior Courtney Breiner, a 2016 Academic All-Patriot League and second team all-League selection carries a 3.81 GPA as a psychology major.
Holy Cross senior Hannah Jeter, the 2016 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, is a three-time academic all-League selection and four-time All-Patriot League selection, including three years on the first team. This season Jeter finished fifth at the League championship with a time of 21:24.76. In the classroom, Jeter carries a 3.93 GPA as an economics major.
Lafayette junior Emily Moore, a member of the 2016 academic all-League team has continued to excel in the classroom, posting a perfect 4.0 GPA as engineering major. The junior also earned a spot on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team last season.
To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or students in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.
The Corvias Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each individual sport comprises the pool of nominees for the Corvias Patriot League Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards given out over the summer. One male and one female are selected for this honor.
Corvias Patriot League Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kevin Murray, So., Navy
Corvias Patriot League Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Christine Bendzinski, Sr., Bucknell
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Listed alphabetically by school)
Men’s Cross Country Academic All-Patriot League Team
Matthew Rainey, Jr., American
Ben Petrella, So., Army West Point
Kyle Adams, Sr., Bucknell
Jeffrey Kirshenbaum, So., Lehigh
Patrick Reilly, Jr., Lehigh
Jake Brophy, So., Navy
Josh Hanna, Sr., Navy
Kevin Murray, So., Navy
Women’s Cross Country Academic All-Patriot League Team
Bethany Nunnery, So., Army West Point
Courtney Breiner, Jr., Boston U.
Christine Bendzinski, Sr., Bucknell
Colleen Buckley, Jr., Bucknell
Jenna Farmer, Jr., Bucknell
Hannah Jeter, Sr., Holy Cross
Emily Moore, Jr., Lafayette
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its third decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.