NEW ORLEANS --- Tusculum University cross country runners Alissa Furches and Nicole McMillen have been named to the 2018 United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team.
The Pioneers also garnered USTFCCCA All-Academic Team status for both the TU men's and women's programs. To be eligible, teams must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and scored at an NCAA Division II regional meet during the season.
The Tusculum women posted a 3.33 team GPA while the men had a 3.31 GPA.
In order to qualify USTFCCCA individual honors, student-athletes must have compiled a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and finished among the top-30 percent of eligible runners at his or her regional championships and/or the top half of the field at the NCAA Championship meet.
Furches, a junior from Greeneville, Tennessee, has a 3.52 GPA while majoring in elementary education. She is a member of the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.
Furches finished 30th at the NCAA II Southeast Region Championship with a 6K-time of 23:58.72. For Furches, it was a 16-spot improvement from the 2017 Region Championship. She also posted a 25th place showing at the SAC Championship with a time of 23:54.6.
McMillen, a senior from Pickering, Ontario, Canada, has a 3.92 GPA majoring in business management. She is a member of the President's List, Dean's List, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
She started the 2018 fall season on the TU women's soccer team where she started in all 18 matches and led the team with eight assists (T2nd in SAC). Five days after her final soccer match, she ran in her first collegiate cross country race and finished fifth at the SAC Championship finishing with a 6K-time of 22:26.2. She earned All-SAC first team honors and two weeks later, she finished fifth at the NCAA II Southeast Regional meet. She garnered All-Region first team honors and earned an individual berth to the NCAA II National Championship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, she finished 59th of 266 runners with a time of 23:57.7 and was the No. 2 SAC runner to finish and fourth-best of Southeast Regional runners competing.
McMillen was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America second team for women's soccer and has earned Academic All-District first team accolades in both women's soccer and track & field.
Furches and McMillen were two of 379 female student-athletes to earn this prestigious honor.