BOONE, N.C. - Four Mountaineers were named to the 2025 Academic All-District Men's & Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Team, selected by College Sports Communicators on Tuesday.
Graduate student
Patrick Freeman and redshirt senior
Calbert Guest earned spots on the Academic All-District men's team, while sophomore
Kendall Johnson and junior
Ava Studney earned spots on the Academic All-District women's team. This marks the third consecutive CSC Academic All-District honor for Guest as well as the second consecutive accolade for Freeman and Studney.
Freeman, while working on a master's in geography, finished the season ranked 19th in the men's pole vault event on the NCAA East First Round qualifying list. At the App State Open (April 18-19), Freeman recorded a personal best clearance of 5.35m (17' 6.5") and matched fellow Mountaineer
Matthew Gray for the meet record. The Winston-Salem, N.C. native ranked 19th in the NCAA East First Round qualifying list and finished his career as a Mountaineer ranked second in the App State all-time list in the men's pole vault.
Guest, who earned a master's in business analytics, broke the App State men's 3,000-meter steeplechase record with a personal best of 8:42.01 at the Penn Relays (April 24-26) and ranked 17th in the NCAA East First Round qualifying list. For a second time in his career he qualified for the NCAA East First Round in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase event, where he placed 23rd with a time of 8:55.25. On the cross country course, he helped the App State men's squad to its second consecutive Sun Belt Men's Cross Country team title. He placed sixth with an 8K time of 24:55.20 at the conference meet to earn Second Team All-SBC accolades. At the NCAA Southeast Regional meet, he finished 44th out of 235 competitors with a 10K time of 31:17.1. The Fort Collins, Colo. native wraps his career as the school record holder in the men's 8K (cross country, 23:45.5), men's 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:42.01), and men's 10,000 meters (29:12.85). Additionally, he stands second in the men's 10K (cross country, 30:18.6), third in the men's 3,000 meters (8:30.25), and fifth in the men's 5,000 meters (14:18.64) in the program all-time list.
Johnson, who is studying health care management, rapidly rose in the record book this season. She broke the school record in the women's 60 meters with a time of 7.42 at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships (Feb. 24-25) and clocked a time of 11.33 in the women's 100 meters at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships (May 8-10). The Raleigh, N.C. native, who was ranked 25th in the NCAA East First Round qualifying list, improved upon her 100-meter time, stopping the clock at 11.31 for a personal best in the NCAA First Round prelims. In the semifinal, she recorded a time of 11.36 to place 20th. Johnson's personal best in the women's 100 meters is 0.09 seconds shy of the program record, 11.22, which was set in 1989 by Lamonda Miller. Johnson also stopped the clock at 23.50 in the women's 200 meters at the Sunday Night Qualifier (May 18) to rise to second in the all-time list in the event.
While studying cell and molecular biology, Studney recorded a personal best clearance of 4.11m (13' 5.75") at the Sunday Night Qualifier (May 18) to stand second in the App State all-time list and rank 43rd in the NCAA East First Round qualifying list. She is tied for second in the program all-time list for the indoor women's pole vault with a clearance of 4.06m (13' 3.75"). The Waxhaw, N.C. native also set the Holmes Center facility women's pole vault record with a clearance of 4.03m (13' 2.5") at the John Weaver Invitational (Dec. 6-7).
To be nominated for CSC Academic All-District honors, a student-athlete must be a sophomore in academic and athletic standing, have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA at their current institution, and have finished in the top-50 individually at a 2024 NCAA regional cross country meet or rank in the top-50 in the region in an individual event indoor or outdoor track & field event. Select Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America honorees will be announced on Tuesday, July 15 while the Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America honorees will be announced on Wednesday, July 16.
