INDIANAPOLIS (10/28/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's cross country teams and the women's soccer program have always excelled away from competition and today, six student-athletes were honored on the Horizon League Fall All-Academic Team.
All ten Horizon League institutions were represented among the 29 honorees in the three sports with Detroit Mercy leading the way with six recipients on the 2016 Fall Academic All-League Teams, determined in balloting by the League's faculty athletics representatives.
Earning the academic laurels were seniors
Anna Mindling and
Carley Rice and junior
Phylisha Drayton from women's soccer, graduate senior
Austin Wigent and junior
Ben Kendell from men's cross country and junior women's cross country runner
Jenny Ponkowski.
For Mindling, Kendell and Wigent, it is the second time in their careers that they earned the prestigious academic accolade.
Mindling is tied for first in the Horizon League with eight goals and is also tied for sixth tallying 18 points, all while recording a 3.961 GPA in Accounting. She was recently selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for the first time in her career.
Rice has notched eight points on two goals and a team-high four assists in starting all 17 games for the Titans. She has also played 1,578 out of a possible 1,592 minutes and holds a 3.946 GPA as a Pre-Dental/Pharmacology major.
Drayton has a 3.874 GPA in Communications. She is second on the team with five goals – including game-winners against Cleveland State and Oakland.
In four races this season, Kendell has two wins, a runner-up mark and four-top-10 finishes along with breaking the school's 8k record. He owns a 3.987 GPA in Electrical Engineering and was the 2015 Co-Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Wigent is pursuing his MBA and has a 3.832 GPA. A member of two Horizon League championship teams, he has scored in two of his four races on the year.
Ponkowski has been a part of the scoring five in all five events in 2016 and has set a career low in every race this year. She is in the five-year Physician's Assistant Program and has recorded a 3.926 GPA to this point.
The Horizon League recognizes student-athletes with seasonal Academic All-League Teams in each of its 19 championship sports. To be eligible for Academic All-Horizon League consideration, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.20 or higher (based on a 4.00 scale) and have completed at least one year at the member institution, having earned 24 semester-hour or 36 quarter-hour credits.
