Owens Named Scholar Athlete of the Year, Leads League-High 45 All-ACC Academic Selections for Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia’s standout triple jumper, Owayne Owens, has been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year for Indoor Track & Field the league announced Tuesday (April 11). Owens becomes the first Cavalier to garner the award for the indoor track and field season and leads a Virginia program that landed 45 total All-ACC Academic honors, the most of any ACC program.
A native of Montego Bay, Jamaica, Owens comes off his best indoor season in which he earned first-team All-ACC honors. Owens capped his spectacular season with a personal-best mark of 16.69 meters (54’9.25”) to win bronze at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The performance ranks second all-time at Virginia and saw Owens achieve his highest finish at an NCAA Championship meet securing first-team All-American honors for the second consecutive season. He was also honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association as the Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year.
On the academic side, Owens is pursuing his graduate degree in Public Policy and Leadership following an outstanding career at UVA. His academic accolades include being named the first Cavalier from the men’s track and field program to be named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American. Owens has been named a USTFCCCA Academic All-American and is a four-time All-ACC Academic team selection. He is the first Virginia track and field student-athlete to earn the ACC Scholar-Athlete award for the indoor season and fourth overall.
The Virginia men’s and women’s teams combined to place the most student-athletes on the All-ACC Academic teams of any other ACC track & field program with 45 total selections. The Cavalier men led all men’s teams with 24 student-athletes making the cut while the Virginia women’s 21 selections rank second among ACC women’s teams.
Academic requirements for selection to the team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. In addition, student-athletes must have competed in the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships and/or the NCAA Indoor Championships during the most recent season.
Virginia Men’s All-ACC Academic Selections (24)
Will Anthony, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Liam Bellamy, Virginia, Commerce
Tom Corel, Virginia, Leadership & Public Policy
Nigal Davis, Virginia, Kinesiology
Peter Djan, Virginia, Engineering
James Donahue, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Jack Eliason, Virginia, American Studies
John Fay, Virginia, Politics/Foreign Affairs
Jacob Hunter, Virginia, Environmental Thought & Practice
Derek Johnson, Virginia, Engineering
Andrew Jones, Virginia, Kinesiology
Jacob Lemmon, Virginia, Foreign Affairs & Archeology
Jaden Lyons, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Gary Martin, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Kyle Mosteller, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Nate Mountain, Virginia, Commerce
Conor Murphy, Virginia, Systems Engineering
Owayne Owens, Virginia, Gr.-Leadership & Public Policy
Wes Porter, Virginia, Commerce
Justin Rogers, Virginia, Kinesiology
Alex Sherman, Virginia, Statistics
Heldi Valikaj, Virginia, Computer Science
Evans White IV, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Ethan Zeh, Virginia, Computer Science
Virginia Women’s All-ACC Academic Selections (21)
Sarah Akpan, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Emily Alexandru, Virginia, Sociology
Margot Appleton, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Sophie Atkinson, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Trina Barcarola, Virginia, Youth & Social Innovation
Kayla Bonnick, Virginia, Speech & Communication Disorders
Hanne Borstlap, Virginia, Gr.-Environmental Sciences
Addison Cox, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Caroline Dannenbaum, Virginia, Commerce
Ellie Desmond, Virginia, Cognitive Science
Maya Maloney, Virginia, Economics
Camryn Menninger, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Anzhelika Parenchuk, Virginia, Cognitive Science/Biology
Janae Profit, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Sam Romano, Virginia, Arts & Sciences
Alahna Sabbakhan, Virginia, Kinesiology
Kaiya Saunders, Virginia, Gr.-Mech & Aerospace Engineering
Jada Seaman, Virginia, Commerce
Keara Seasholtz, Virginia, Environmental Theory & Practice
Esther Seeland, Virginia, Gr.- Kinesiology
Alix Still, Virginia, Higher Education