Owens, Kruse Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Triple jumper Owayne Owens and distance runner Ka’eo Kruse of the Virginia men’s track and field program have each been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. The honor recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes in the competition realm and in the classroom.
Owens, who majors in sociology while also working on an accelerated master’s program in public policy, won his second-consecutive gold medal in the indoor triple jump this season. The senior went on to earn All-American honors in the triple jump as he finished sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the ACC Outdoor championships, Owens won silver to earn first team All-ACC honors. His personal-best mark in the triple-jump of 16.61 meters (54’6”) ranks fourth in the NCAA this season. Owens’ selection marks the second time he has made the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
Owens was also selected as a recipient of the 2022 Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship which is awarded to select student-athletes who have performed with distinction in both the classroom and their respective sport, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
Kruse came to Virginia in the fall of 2020 as a graduate student following an undergraduate career at Harvard where he earned a cumulative GPA of 4.0. The distance runner turned in an impressive season for the Hoos. Kruse earned his first-ever trip to the NCAA East Regional as he qualified in both the 1500-meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase, an event he competed in for the first time in his career this season.
Both Owens (triple jump) and Kruse (3,000m steeplechase) will compete at the NCAA East Preliminaries tomorrow (May 27) in hopes of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
District 3 honorees include student-athletes from schools in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. To qualify, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Owens and Kruse will each advance to the CoSIDA All-America ballot where first, second, and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in June.