Lady Braves Named To USTFCCCA List Of All-Academic Teams

LAS VEGAS – The UNCP women's cross country team was among 107 institutions named to the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) 2010 Division II Cross Country All-Academic Teams announced Friday afternoon.

The Lady Braves, coached by Gary Aycock, have a 3.27 cumulative team GPA through the 2010 fall semester. UNCP recorded a program-best eighth-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship after collecting a total of 267 points. Livia Mahaffie was the first Lady Brave to cross the finish line, helping the team post a program-best finish at the regional meet while also collecting USTFCCCA all-academic honors with a 3.936 GPA.

Mahaffie is an elementary education major and is the top runner for the Lady Braves. She shattered a 16-year old school record with a time of 18:59.4 in the 5k run at the Augusta State Tri-Meet and currently holds two of the top-10 times in school history and led the team to a eighth place. She finished 30th overall and dropped two minutes off her previous-best 6K time at the Peach Belt Conference Championships with a time of 23:55.8. 

Other Lady Braves with exceptional grade point averages include Elizabeth Metzger (3.929 GPA), Ashlee Doughty (3.869), Blair Long (3.576), Megan Carney (3.157) and Bonnie MacDonald (3.110).

The Lady Braves wrapped up their 2010 season with six new top-20 times in the record book. Eight of nine runners set new personal records in the 5K and 6K runs as UNCP finished in the top 3 as a team in five of the seven meets competed in during the 2010 campaign. 

To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, a team must have a cumulative team GPA of 3.00 or better and have compiled a score (finished at least five runners) at their respective NCAA regional championship.

FULL RELEASE