April 29, 2010

Three RedStorm men earn Academic All MSC

Rio Grande --- Three members of the University of Rio Grande men's track and field squad earned Academic All Mid-South Conference honors for their excellence in the classroom this spring. They were among 19 male track and field athletes who were honored by the Mid-South Conference.

Seniors David Croom (Heath, OH) and Kyle Hively (Vinton, OH) along with sophomore Lucas Murphy (Grove City, OH) were the Rio representatives on the team. In order to be named Academic All Mid-South Conference, a student/athlete must be a sophomore, junior or senior and achieve a minimum 3.25 grade point average. 

Croom is the son of George Croom & Sherry Day and is majoring in Communications.

Hively, who is red-shirting this spring after competing in the winter indoor season, is the son of Danny & Ruth Hively. He is majoring in Information Technology.

Murphy is the son of Ken & Mary Murphy and is majoring in Accounting. 

"Again, just like with the ladies, we are extremely proud of these three young men," said Rio Grande head coach Bob Willey. "It's very exciting and they are very deserving of this honor."

Willey is no stranger to having his student-athletes perform well in the classroom as well as on the track or the course. He has had 44 NAIA Academic All-Americans in his time as head coach at Rio Grande. "The time these people put in and dedication to studying and competing, it's nice to see them get some recognition for all their hard work," Willey said. "As I said with the young ladies who achieved this award, it's a great tribute to the type of student/athletes that they are and obviously it's a goal that we want all of our athletes to aspire to."