OKLAHOMA CITY (May 29, 2020) –
Jake Weith, a runner for Oklahoma Christian's cross country and track and field teams since 2015, was named Friday to the Academic All-District list by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The CoSIDA honor recognizes student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom and is considered one of the most prestigious in collegiate athletics. To qualify for the honor, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, have reached sophomore status athletically, have legitimate athletic credentials and have been at the nominating institution at least one calendar year.
For the 2019-20 academic year only, selections to the Academic All-District teams for track and field/cross country used career – instead of season – athletic accomplishments, as all spring sports (including outdoor track and field) had seasons either ended prematurely or cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Academic All-District awards are divided into eight geographic districts and four divisions. OC student-athletes compete for awards against their counterparts from other Division II schools. District 6 includes universities that are members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conferences – a total of 35 schools. Sports information directors from those universities vote for the Academic All-District team. OC competes in the LSC in all sports except men's and women's swimming, in which the university competes in the RMAC.
Weith, a senior from Arlington, Texas, graduated in December with a bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance and carried a 3.954 GPA. He made the Academic All-Conference team for track and field in the Great American Conference in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and for cross country in the Lone Star Conference this past fall.
He made the Heartland Conference's President's Honor Roll seven times in as many semesters in which he was eligible for that award and was on the LSC's Commissioner's Honor Roll this past fall. He soon will be a four-time recipient of the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award.
On the track, he made the All-GAC second-team list in the outdoor 10,000 meters as a track senior in 2019. He was in OC's starting lineup for cross country this past season. As a junior in 2017, he finished 33rd individually in the Heartland Conference cross country meet in Wichita, Kan.
Weith is the 19th OC track and field athlete to made the CoSIDA Academic All-District list, a group that includes his coach,
Wade Miller (2005, 2006) and OC Athletic Hall of Famers Damon Sims (1996) and Luke Anderson (2000, 2001). OC has had at least one Academic All-District selection in seven of the past nine years.
Weith now will advance to the ballot for the CoSIDA Academic All-America Cross Country/Track and Field team, which will be selected through a vote of sports information directors from NCAA Division II schools in the U.S. and Canada. That list will be announced in mid-June.
