CSC Release
SAINT PETER, Minn. – Five Gustavus cross country/track & field student-athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team on Tuesday, June 24.
The five Gusties honored were (listed alphabetically) sophomore thrower
Wyatt Hudspith (Esko, Minn.), junior distance and cross country runner
Will Janzen (Minneapolis, Minn./Roosevelt), senior mid-distance runner
Markus Rupnow (Mankato, Minn./West), senior hurdler
Sam Schulze (Bemidji, Minn.) and senior distance and cross country runner
Tyler Smith (Norwood Young America, Minn./Central).
Each institution may nominate up to five male and five female student-athletes for Academic All-District recognition in cross country/track and field. Nominees must be of sophomore status or higher with at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA.
Athletically, track and field nominees must have an individual event ranked in the top 50 of their region (indoor or outdoor) according to the TFRRS performance list rankings at the time of nomination (June 17) and cross country submissions must finish in the top 50 of their respective NCAA Regional.
Academic All-District awardees selected to move to the national ballot are eligible for Academic All-America distinction, which will be voted on by organization members and announced on Tuesday, July 15 (women) and Wednesday, July 16 (men).
Hudspith earns his first CSC honor after completing his sophomore year with a 3.81 GPA while majoring in biology. His qualifying mark to reach eligible status was his team-leading discus toss of 46.46 meters, which was a collegiate career-best and ranked 24th in the NCAA North Region. He achieved the mark at the MIAC Outdoor Championships to earn All-Conference Honorable Mention status in fourth place. He also posted a career-best 13.08 meter toss in the shot put during the indoor season at the MSU-Mankato Mark Schuck Open and Multi.
Janzen, an economics and computer science major with a 3.71 GPA, finished ranked 37th in the region in the outdoor 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:46.54, which placed him 10th at the MIAC outdoor meet for a collegiate career-best. He also took 21st in the 5,000-meter with a time of 16:02.38. During the cross country season, Janzen collected All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors for the first time in his career with a 25th place finish with a time of 26:05.1 (career-best). He finished 91st at the NCAA North Region Championships with a mark of 26:27.8. He posted career-bests in the indoor 1,000-meter (2:48.78) and mile (4:38.22) and outdoor 800-meter (2:06.99), 3k (8:56.31), 5k (15:26.04) and steeple.
A social studies education major with a 3.93 GPA, Rupnow made the cut with his mark in the indoor 800-meter, a time of 1:57.94, which ranked 50th in the region. He earned a pair of All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors in the indoor season, taking sixth as a part of the 4x400-meter relay and fifth as a member of the distance medley relay team. His 800-meter indoor time was a second shy of his career-best mark but earned him a first place finish at the MSU-Mankato Maverick Invitational on Feb. 21. He totaled six MIAC Honorable Mention honors as a part of various relay teams through his career.
Schulze graduated in the spring as a biology and environmental studies major with a 3.70 GPA and finished 19th in the region in the 400-meter hurdles (55.25) to collect his second CSC Academic honor. He joined Ruponow on the indoor 4x400 relay that finished sixth at the MIAC indoor championship and ranked 13th in the region. He narrowly missed All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors at the MIAC Outdoor Championships with a seventh place finish in the 400-hurdles. He collected career bests in the indoor 600-meter (1:27.03) and outdoor 200-meter (23.53) and 400 (51.03) in his final collegiate season.
The CSC All-District award is the third consecutive for Smith, who graduated as a public accounting major with a 4.0 GPA. Smith was the top distance runner for the Gusties in his senior season, collecting four top 50 marks between the indoor and outdoor seasons, as well as the top finish for the Gustie men at the MIAC Cross Country Championships. Smith collected the first All-Conference honors of his cross country career with an eighth place finish in 25:17.2. He finished 90th at the NCAA North Region Championships (26:27.0). During the indoor season, his 800-meter time of 1:54.91 was ninth in the region, mile (4:17.62) was 25th, and 3k (8:35.96) was 28th. He collected All-MIAC honors in both the 800 and 1,000-meter, claiming the MIAC title in the latter, and was a part of the 4x400 honorable mention relay team at the indoor meet. He was outdoor All-Conference in the 4x800-meter relay and finished 47th in the region with a time of 3:59.01 in the 1500-meter. Academically, Smith was named the winner of both the cross country and indoor track & field MIAC Elite 22 Award, bestowed upon the individual who has earned All-Conference recognition at their respective meets with the highest cumulative GPA. He finished his career a nine-time All-MIAC honoree, four-time MIAC Honorable Mention performer, three-time Academic All-District selection, two-time Elite 22 winner and one-time MIAC Champion.
The Gustavus cross country team finished sixth of 11 teams at the MIAC Championships in the fall and 18th of 31 at the NCAA North Regional Championships. The men's track & field team placed seventh of 11 at the indoor MIAC meet and upped their finish by two spots to fifth place at the outdoor championship to help Gustavus clinch the MIAC's George Durenberger All-Sports Trophy for the first time since 2003-04.
