FRISCO – Texas A&M University-Commerce men's cross country scholar-athlete Casey Novelo earned Southland Conference Second Team All-Academic honors on Wednesday.
 
Novelo (Bedford – Trinity) is a President's List honoree as an electrical engineering major. He is a junior and was named to SLC Commissioner's Honor Roll twice as well. Novelo was the third-place finisher in every race for the Lions this past season, including a 32^nd place finish at the Southland Conference Championships.
 
Southland Conference All-Academic Teams are voted upon by a head coach, sports information director and compliance staff member from each school. Student-Athletes of the Year are voted upon by an awards committee which consists of one administrator from each member school. Voting for one's own athletes is not permitted.

To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.25 cumulative grade point average through the semester prior to the sport's championship, completed at least one full academic year at the nominating school prior to the current season, and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competitions during the most recently completed season.

Student-Athlete of the Year nominees must hold at least a 3.5 GPA and have completed at least two years of athletic competition at the nominating institution.

First Team All-Conference athletes (top five finishers at the Southland Cross Country Championships) who meet all-academic nomination criteria and are nominated for the academic award are automatically named First Team All-Academic selections.
 
Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Griffin Neal, UIW
Men's Cross Country All-Academic First Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown	Major
Griffin Neal *3	UIW	Jr.	Wimberley, Texas	Business Administration
Dennis Kipngeno *3	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Nakuru, Kenya	Health Care Administration
Kelvin Kimaiyo *	A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	El Doret, Kenya	Nursing
Alexandre Fetizon 2	UIW	Jr.	Ambonnay, France	Science Engineering
Krzysztof Turski	HCU	Sr.	Radom, Poland	Interdisciplinary Studies

Men's Cross Country All-Academic Second Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown	Major
Gary Sandrock	New Orleans	Jr.	New Orleans, La.	Chemistry
Casey Novelo	A&M-Commerce	Jr.	Bedford, Texas	Electrical Engineering
William Bellina	Nicholls	So.	Donaldsonville, La.	Pre-Law
Cade Litolff	New Orleans	Sr.	Metairie, La.	Chemistry
Rogerio Gomez	A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	San Benito, Texas	Kinesiology

 
Women's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year: Nia Clatworthy, Lamar
Women's Cross Country All-Academic First Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown	Major
Nia Clatworth *2	Lamar	Jr.	Porthcawl, Wales	Economics
Ashlyn Royal *	UIW	Sr.	Wimberly, Texas	Business Administration
Tshwanelo Maruping *	New Orleans	Sr.	Tlhageng Kimberly, South Africa	Interdisciplinary Studies
Alexandra Weir 2	New Orleans	Sr.	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Urban Development
Sorcha Moloney 2	McNeese	Sr.	Abbeyleix, Ireland	Masters in Business Administration

 
Women's Cross Country All-Academic Second Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown	Major
Rebecca Dekay	New Orleans	Gr.	London, Ontario, Canada	Masters in Business Administration
Irene Barreiro-Lopez	McNeese	Jr.	Fene, Spain	Computer Engineering
Marta Pascoa	McNeese	Jr.	Setubal, Portugal	General Studies and Behavioral Science
Oxana Bonjorn-Giros	New Orleans	Jr.	Mora d'Ebre, Spain	Civil Engineering
Anthonate Barsai	Southeastern	So.	Eldoret, Kenya	Nursing

* Automatic selection; 2023 First Team All-Conference