Westfield, MA --- Led by senior classmates Zach Creeden (Billerica, MA), Steve Fleming (Ludlow, MA), Andrew Johnson (Thompson, CT), Kevin Maciel (Tewksbury, MA) and Ramses Rafael (Lawrence, MA), 18 men's track student-athletes were selected to the MASCAC Spring All-Academic Team as announced by league publicist Emily Diekelmann.
Those from the junior class included Patrick Bova (Princeton, MA), Shaun Corum (Billerica, MA), Mario De Jesus (Lawrence, MA), Teddy Ferreira (Mansfield, MA), Adam Pepin (Paxton, MA) and Robert White (Ludlow, MA) while sophomores who were distinguished were James Brodeur (Milford, MA), Benjamin Dussault (Assonet, MA), Edwin Nash (Charlton, MA) and Dana Perry (Mendon, MA).
First-year honorees were highlighted by Ryan Lindsay (W. Boylston, MA), Isaac Ofori (Worcester, MA/North) and Will Whearty (Walpole, MA).
To earn a spot on the MASCAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have achieved a 3.20 cumulative or semester-based GPA during their season of competition. Among institutions in the MASCAC, the squad had the third most student-athletes recognized.
Those who have been recognized with prestigious all-academic laurels three times in their careers include Creeden, DeJesus, Ferreira and Johnson as Bova, Brodeur, Corum, Perry, Rafel and White have been honored twice.
Under the guidance of head coach Al Halper, the men's track and field team placed third at the MASCAC Championships and finished sixth at the Division III New England Championships. Two weeks after establishing a new program record for points scored at the Open New England Championships, the program sent five student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Championships, tying for the most that have represented WSU since 1974.
Overall, WSU had the third most honorees named to the MASCAC Spring All-Academic team with 92 while the sum for the 2013-14 academic year of 234 set a new institutional standard. For the spring semester, all student-athletes at Worcester State posted a stellar 3.01 grade point average.