NEW ORLEANS – Eastern Kentucky University student-athletes Jaime Escriche and Erick Rotich earned U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honors for the 2015-16 season.
 
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better and met one of the following criteria: for the indoor season, finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org; for the outdoor season, participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).
 
Escriche began a master's degree in business administration in the fall of 2016. The native of Teruel, Spain posted a 3.42 GPA between his final undergraduate semester and his first MBA semester. Escriche was the Ohio Valley Conference Male Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after running 13:56.6 for the 5,000 meters at Iowa State in February. He qualified for the NCAA East Regional during the outdoor season after running 29:45.4 in the 10,000 meters at the Virginia Challenge in April.
 
Rotich, a sports management major from Eldoret, Kenya, posted a 3.28 GPA last year. Rotich was the 2015 OVC Male Cross Country Runner of the Year. He won OVC gold in the outdoor 5,000 meters, and he qualified for the NCAA East Regional in that event with a time of 14:05.0, which he ran at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival in April.
 
Both the EKU men's and women's track and field teams were also named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams by the organization. The Colonel men – who posted a 3.12 GPA this past year – were one of 122 men's teams from across the country to earn the award. The Colonel women – who posted a 3.46 GPA – were one of 220 women's teams to receive the award.
 
A team must have maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better to be named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team.