July 26, 2018
NEW ORLEANS -- Je'Neal Ainsworth and Tyra Lea of the SDSU Track and Field team received All-Academic awards from the USTFCCCA, the national office announced Thursday morning.
Ainsworth (Long Beach, Calif.), a criminal justice major, has a 3.42 cumulative GPA. A standout triple jumper for the Aztecs, Ainsworth qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round for the third straight year in 2018. She was also recently named to the Mountain West All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year.
Lea (Raleigh, N.C.) will be pursuing a doctorate of Physical Therapy at the University of Washington next fall. She has been named to the Mountain West All-Academic team all four years, is a three-time Mountain West Scholar-Athlete award winner and has earned All-Mountain West Outdoor honors four times. This past outdoor season, she helped the Aztecs advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 4x400 meter relay and was a USTFCCCA Honorable Mention selection.
Both Ainsworth and Lea received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Scholar Athlete Award in May.
Division I Track & Field All-Academic Individuals Criteria
Minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period, certifiable by either NCAA Faculty Rep or NCAA Compliance Coordinator or Registrar's Office. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0].
Must have completed at least two (2) semesters or three (3) quarters at the nominating institution.
Athletic criteria for the award can be met in either the indoor season or the outdoor season:
1. For the indoor season: must have finished the season ranked in the top 96 in any championship individual event, or in the top 48 in any championship relay event, for the most recent indoor season, certifiable by their place on the NCAA Division I descending order lists on TFRRS for Indoor Track and Field.
2. For the outdoor season: must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships (the Preliminary Championship Competition and/or the Final Championship Competition) or for the multi-events, must have finished the outdoor season ranked in the top 48 in the East or top 48 in the West, certifiable by their place on the NCAA Division I descending order lists on TFRRS for Outdoor Track and Field.