Landmark Track Performers Earn Academic Honors

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Two Landmark Conference track & field individuals and a pair of teams have received academic honors from the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Juniata College women's track performer Kelsey Buffenmyer and Moravian College's Nate Tussey were both chosen as members of the USTFCCCA Division III All-Academic Track & Field Teams. In addition, the Goucher College and Moravian women's track and field programs were both recognized as Division III All-Academic Teams.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met the NCAA Division III Indoor or Outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard in their respective event. For the teams to be nominated, the team must carry a minimum 3.100 cumulative grade-point average.

For Tussey, the selection comes after he earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors earlier in the summer. Tussey, who graduated in 2008 with a 3.49 GPA and a degree in Biology and returned to the school this year as a graduate student maintaining a 3.93 GPA while working towards his MBA, was named the Male Most Outstanding Performer at the 2009 ECAC Division III Outdoor Championships after winning both the 110-meter high hurdle and 400-meter hurdle events and leading the Greyhounds to their second straight ECAC team title. Tussey finished ninth in both events at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships, and he won both races at the Landmark Conference Championships as Moravian won its second consecutive team title.

Buffenmyer recently also added some hardware as she was chosen as the Landmark Women's Indoor Track & Field Senior Scholar Athlete. A two-time NCAA qualifier as a member of the Juniata track and field team, Buffenmyer completed her career having never lost a high jump competition in a conference championship meet. She qualified for the NCAA championships in 2007, when she finished 12th in the high jump, and again in 2009 when she placed 10th. She also qualified for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the long jump, where she finished 12th. Over her four years at Juniata, she earned a total of 162.25 points for the Eagles at conference track and field championships - the most of any track and field performer under the tutelage of head coach Jon Cutright. Academically, she was named to the Dean's List every semester she was a student at Juniata, and was named to the 2007-08 Landmark Conference Winter All-Academic Team. Buffenmyer was a six-time selection to the MAC and Landmark Conference academic honor rolls. She graduated from Juniata on May 16, 2009, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in human resource management and Spanish-Hispanic cultures.

Goucher earned its spot on as an All-Academic Team with an excellent 3.420 cumulative GPA. Moravian's team GPA of 3.230. There were a total of 100 women's track & field teams and 53 men's track & field teams to earn the All-Academic Team honors.

Stories provided by Goucher, Juniata & Moravian Sports Information