AUSTIN, Texas (July 15, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian distance runners Jelte van Atten and Colten Brown were named Thursday to the Academic All-District list for track and field/cross country, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors Association of America.

The CoSIDA honor recognizes student-athletes for their combined athletic and academic prowess 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.

Brown, a sophomore Computer Engineering major from Boise City, Okla., earned All-Lone Star Conference honors with a fifth-place finish at the LSC meet in San Angelo, Texas, in October, leading the Eagles to a runner-up team showing. Two weeks later, he earned All-Invitational honors in the Division II XC National Invitational in Lubbock, Texas.

In track and field, he finished seventh in the 5,000 meters and eighth in the 3,000 meters in the LSC Indoor Championships in Lubbock, then finished seventh in the 5,000 meters in the LSC Outdoor Championships in Canyon, Texas.

Brown earned All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track and Field Coaches Association in cross country in 2019. He made the LSC's All-Academic team in both indoor and outdoor track this year and qualified for the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award. He's earned recognition on the LSC Commissioner's Honor Roll four times.

A junior Mechanical Engineering major from Leiden, Netherlands, van Atten earned All-LSC honors in indoor track and field, finishing fourth in the mile and second as part of OC's distance medley relay team that was the event runner-up. Earlier in his career, he was a three-time All-Great American Conference runner, earning first-team honors outdoors in the 1,500 meters in 2019 and second-team honors indoors that year in the DMR and mile.

He also was a member of OC's team that was the LSC runner-up in cross country.

He made the LSC All-Academic team in both indoor and outdoor track in 2021 and will receive All-Academic honors in track and field from the USTFCCCA later this summer. He soon will be a two-time recipient of the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award and has made either the LSC or Heartland Honor Roll six times in as many semesters.

Brown and van Atten are the 20th and 21st OC male track and field athletes to receive an Academic All-District honor, a number that includes head coach Wade Miller, who made the CoSIDA list in both 2005 and 2006. OC has had at least one Academic All-District selection in eight of the past 10 years in track and field/cross country and has had multiple selections in four of those years.

Brown and van Atten now will advance to the ballot for the Academic All-America 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 later this summer