Illinois State's Ariana Cranston and J.D. LaFayette have each earned a spot on the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Division I Track & Field and Cross Country Teams, CoSIDA announced Tuesday.
Cranston and LaFayette were two of seven student-athletes from the Missouri Valley Conference to represent the league on these prestigious teams. The duo joins Bradley's Will Anderson, Loyola Chicago's Lindsey Brewis and Riley DeMeulenaere, Southern Illinois' Josh Maier and Valparaiso's Katherine Germann.
The 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. To be eligible for Academic All-District consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a 4.00 scale, be at least a sophomore in both athletic and academic standing, and be nominated by his or her institution's sports information director.
Cranston and LaFayette were named to the All-District 5 team, which includes student-athletes from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot, with first- and second-team Academic All-America honorees to be announced in June.
Cranston, a native of Angola, Indiana, maintains a 3.85 GPA while studying Molecular and Cellular Biology at Illinois State. In the field, Cranston has helped the Redbirds capture back-to-back MVC Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships over her time at Illinois State. She is a three-time individual MVC Pole Vault Champion, most recently setting a new outdoor personal-best at the NCAA Track & Field West Preliminary Round of 4.07m/13-04.25 last week, improving her own mark to remain No. 2 in the record books.
LaFayette, a native of Normal, Illinois, has kept a perfect 4.00 GPA while studying Computer Science at Illinois State. This is the third time that LaFayette has been named Academic All-District, having also received this honor in the 2016 and 2018 season. On the track, LaFayette was crowned the MVC Indoor Track & Field Champion in the 800-meter run on two separate occasions and has been the recipient of the MVC's prestigious Elite 17 Award twice in his career.
For a full list of Academic All-District nominees, visit CoSIDA.com.
For all the latest on Redbird track & field and cross country, visit GoRedbirds.com and follow the 'Birds on Twitter (@Redbird_TrackXC), Instagram (@redbird_trackxc), and Facebook (@redbirdsTF).
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