NEW ORLEANS -- Washington State University men's and women's cross country teams were named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Scholar Teams and junior Chandler Teigen was named to the All-Academic DI Team for the 2017 cross country season.
 
Teigen, a junior from Asotin, Wash., has a 3.96 cumulative grade point average and is majoring in bioengineering. He led the No. 27 Cougars men's cross country team to a 24th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Teigen earned All-Pac-12 second team honors after finishing ninth at the conference meet and earned All-Region honors after his 20th-place finish. He is a two-time Pac-12 Cross Country All-Academic First Team honoree.
 
In order to qualify for the USTFCCCA honors, athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and finish in the top-25 (or 10 percent) at regionals or as an All-American in the national meet. Teigen was one of 269 scholar-athletes honored by the USTFCCCA for the 2017 season.
 
The Cougar men's cross country team was one of 185 Division I teams selected for the USTFCCCA All-Academic honor. There were eight Pac-12 Conference members tabbed as All-Academic teams including Arizona (3.35 GPA), Arizona State (3.07 GPA), California (3.22 GPA), Colorado (3.15 GPA), Oregon (3.19 GPA), Stanford (3.50 GPA), Washington (3.12 GPA), and WSU (3.30 GPA).
 
The WSU women's cross country team was one of 228 Division I squads to earn All-Academic team honors this year. The Cougars were one of 10 Pac-12 Conference teams to be honored including Arizona (3.37 GPA), Arizona State (3.17 GPA), Colorado (3.38 GPA), Oregon (3.53 GPA), Oregon State (3.45 GPA), Stanford (3.57 GPA), UCLA (3.13 GPA), Utah (3.59 GPA), Washington (3.44 GPA), and WSU (3.51 GPA).
 
The University New Mexico women, the 2017 national championship team, and the University of Portland men, the 2017 national runners-up, were tabbed the Scholar Teams of the Year. The Lobos women's team posted a 3.53 GPA while the Pilots men's team had 3.22 GPA.
 
The USTFCCCA criteria for scholar team selection includes fielding a team of five runners at the NCAA DI Regional Cross Country meets and have a cumulative team GPA at the end of the semester of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The complete listing of teams and individuals with All-Academic honors can be found at ustfccca.org.
 
The 2017 USTFCCCA cross country team honors are the 14th time a WSU women's team has been recognized nationally and the eighth time for a WSU men's team since the awards began in 1995.