University of Minnesota Athletics
USTFCCCA Honors Gophers for Academics
2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS - Gophers Liz Berkholtz and Haley Johnson have been named 2015 USTFCCCA Division I Women's All-Academic honorees, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced today. With a team grade point average of 3.517, Minnesota also earned All-Academic Team honors.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, a team must have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better and start at least five runners at its regional championship meet. Meanwhile, individual honorees must have compiled a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have finished in the top 25 finishers (or 10 percent) at regionals or as an All-American at the national meet.
Berkholtz and Johnson are two of 160 women who were named USTFCCCA All-Academic. Berkholtz has earned the distinction for the second time in her career while Johnson, a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, took home USTFCCCA academic honors for the first time.
Berkholtz completed her undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in neuroscience and is currently enrolled in a graduate certificate program in addiction studies with hopes of becoming a trauma unit nurse in the future. This season, she was named All-Big Ten Second Team and All-Midwest Region while serving as a team captain. Berkholtz led Minnesota in six of seven races and made her fourth-straight NCAA Championship appearance with a career-best 44th-place finish to lead the Gophers in 20:29.1. She clocked a season-best 20:18.7 to lead Minnesota and place 11th at the Big Ten Championship and ran four of the program's all-time top-50 six-kilometer times.
The 2015 season saw Johnson, a food science major, earn All-Midwest Region honors and place 72nd as the second Gopher at the NCAA Championship. She ran seven races, including three-straight career-best performances at the NCAA Midwest Regional (20:38.3), Big Ten Championship (20:38.7) and Wisconsin adidas Invitational (20:40.8). Johnson served as a team captain for the Gophers and finished among the team's top three in all seven races. Like Berkholtz, Johnson also clocked four of the program's all-time top-50 six-kilometer times during the 2015 season.
Berkholtz and Johnson led the Gophers to their 11th-consecutive NCAA Championship appearance in 2015, where Minnesota finished 18th in the team standings.
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