NEW ORLEANS – When the Seattle Pacific Falcons weren't speeding up along the cross country trails, they were stepping up in the classroom.
 
Now, they have national recognition to show for it.
 

Annika Esvelt, Maya Ewing, and Matise Mulch have been named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches All-Academic team.
 
In addition, the SPU women earned a team All-Academic award.
 
The awards were announced this past Friday by the USTFCCCA.
 
Esvelt, Ewing, Mulch all were instrumental in helping Seattle Pacific reach the NCAA Division II West Regionals in November.


Esvelt, a senior, placed sixth in the race at Amend Park in Billings, Montana, thereby earning an invitation to the NCAA Championships. At that race on Nov. 23 in Sacramento – her first-ever trip to cross country nationals – she capped her career with an All-American fourth-place finish.
 

Ewing had a breakout season. A junior, she finished fourth at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, then was 22nd at West Regionals, earning her first All-Region award. Her time of 21:40.55 was a phenomenal 2 minutes, 26 seconds faster than the 24:06.31 that she posted as a freshman on the same Amend Park layout.
 
Mulch, also a junior, had her two best races of the season when it mattered most. In the GNAC race at Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club in Bellingham, she was 16th overall, her highest-ever postseason placing, and completed her 6 kilometers in a 22:22.7 – her fastest time for that distance. At West Regionals, Mulch placed 49th, her highest-ever place at that level.
 
Esvelt earned her third USTFCCCA academic honor. Mulch made the list for the second time, and Ewing is on it for the first time.
 
As a team, the SPU women posted a 3.726 cumulative grade-point average. That ranked No. 22 nationally among the 122 teams that received the award and No. 2 among West Region schools (Biola, at 3.75, was the only West school higher.)
 
Individual award winners must have a minimum GPA of 3.25 and must have placed in the top 30 percent at regionals. (For this past season, that was the top 72 in the West.)
 
Team award winners must have a team cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and must have compiled a score (a minimum of five finishers) at regionals.


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