University of Washington women's cross country team named USTFCCCA Scholar Team of the Year...

Adding to the large number of accolades the team's received, the University of Washington Huskies (above/photo by Paul Merca) are the 2008 NCAA Division I USTFCCCA Women’s Cross Country Scholar Team of the Year, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced. Washington won their first NCAA Division I Cross Country team championship at the 2008 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.

Washington also won the Pacific-10 Conference title and the NCAA Division I West Region title in the weeks leading up to their national championship. The Huskies earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in both 2005 and 2006. This year’s squad sports a 3.28 team GPA.

University of South Carolina had the highest overall team grade point average (3.767). A record total of 160 Division I women’s programs received the USTFCCCA’s All-Academic Team honors this year compared to 158 schools from last season.

Over forty-five percent of all Division I institutions (394) who sponsor women’s cross country received the honor. In addition, seven of the top 10 teams and 14 of the top 20 teams at this year’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams.

The Big East Conference and Big Ten Conference tied for the most conference members represented on the list with 11 teams each, followed by the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 Conference with nine teams each and the Atlantic Coast Conference with eight teams on the list.

For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Meet. The team must also have a minimum 3.00 team cumulative grade point average.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.