Ten Sun Devils earn Pac-12 XC All-Academic Honors

Ten members of the Arizona State University cross team team have earned Pac-12 Conference All-Academic honors, conference commissioner Larry Scott announced, Nov. 15. 

The Arizona State men posted four First-Team All-Academic selections, making up 40 percent of the Pac-12 First Team – two more than Stanford, who had the second-highest tally with two. 

Senior Nick Happe paced the way with his third consecutive Pac-12 First-Team selection, also doing so as a sophomore in 2010 and a junior in 2011.  The 2012 Pac-12 Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the year was also the team’s top runner down the stretch, earning All-Conference and All-Region accolades in his final season as a Sun Devil Harrier. 

Happe posted the highest GPA of any student-athlete on the list with a 4.09 in finance as part of Barrett, The Honors College. 

Also posting a 4.09 GPA was redshirt sophomore Garrett Baker-Slama as a kinesiology/pre-med major.  Baker-Slama was a consistent point scorer for the Sun Devils this season.  This was the second straight year Baker-Slama earned First-Team accolades. 

Redshirt junior Steven Schnieders earned his third consecutive First-Team honors as well, posting a 3.82 GPA in accounting while scoring for ASU at the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA West Regional. 

Senior Josh Walker rounded out the First-Team selections with a 3.71 GPA in Kinesiology. 

On the women’s side, senior Natasa Vulic earned her second consecutive First-Team honor as she has posted a 4.00 GPA as a double major in mechanical engineering and sustainability while consistently being one of ASU’s top three runners this season. 

Five Sun Devils earned honorable mention nods as part of the All-Academic lists, including redshirt freshman Ryan Herson and redshirt senior Darius Terry on the men’s side and senior Hailey Hanna, sophomores Shelby Houlihan and Payton Schutte.  

Houlihan will be competing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships this weekend.

The Sun Devils – Houlihan excluded - now have their sights set on the 2012 NCAA track and field season, set to begin January 12 with the Lumberjack Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz.