Illinois State track and cross country standouts Christian Goy and Stacia Beste were both named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-American University Division mens and womens first teams, respectively, for their athletic and academic accomplishments during the 2001-2002 year.
Goy, a Rheinsburg, Germany native, finished out his eligibility in track and field by becoming the NCAA champion in the indoor mile in March with a time of 4:00.06. He won the indoor mile and the 3,000 meter run at the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships to claim the sixth and seventh conference track titles of his career and was named the MVCs Most Valuable Track and Field Athlete.
The three-time NCAA All-American also broke his own Illinois State record in the indoor mile on March 1 with a time of 3:59.43 at the Iowa State Indoor Track and Field NCAA Qualifier.
Goy, a business management major, carries a 3.43 grade-point average, was the president of Illinois States Student Athlete Advisory Council and was named the 2001 ISU Student-Athlete of the Year. He still has one season of eligibility remaining in cross country at Illinois State.
Beste, a Shorewood, Wisc. native, earned NCAA All-American status with an eighth-place finish (34:59.84) in the 10,000 meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, La., on May 29. She ran an automatic qualifying time of 34:08.22 in the event at the Cardinal Invitational on May 3. At the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships she won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs and was named the Valleys Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete.
Beste is a graduate student with a degree in psychology and a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average. Last season, she was named to the Verizon Academic All-American Spring Womens At-Large first team and the All-District V team.
Qualifying athletes must have been starters or important reserves with legitimate athletic credentials and at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale). Athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at the nominating institution and have completed at least one year at the institution.
The Academic All-America program, celebrating its 50th anniversary, was created in 1952 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Verizon, in cooperation with CoSIDA, has been the exclusive sponsor of the Verizon Academic All-America Teams program since 1985.
