From Washington University Athletics
Washington University in St. Louis had six student-athletes from the cross country and track & field programs recognized as Google Cloud Academic All-Americans, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Tuesday.
A trio of Bears were selected to First Team honors including sophomore Eka Jose, junior Nick Matteucci and senior Heidi Nassos. Matteucci repeated as a First Team selection, while Nassos was a Second Team honoree in 2018. Jose earned the First Team accolade in her first year of eligibility for the award.
Junior Paige Lawler and graduate Aly Wayne were selected to the Second Team while sophomore John Harry Wagner garnered Third Team honors. All three Bears are first time honorees.
EKA JOSE
Jose earned a 3.92 grade point average majoring in molecular biology and biochemistry with an anthropology minor. She capped her sophomore season off with a pair of All-American finishes at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championship including an event title in the triple jump. Jose was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches of America (USTFCCCA) Most Outstanding Women's Field Performer of the national championship meet for her efforts in leading the Bears to a second place finish. She matched first and fourth place performances in the triple and long jump during indoor nationals, totaling four All-America honors on the year. Jose set school records in the triple jump both seasons and was also named the USTFCCCA DIII Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
PAIGE LAWLER
Lawler finished her junior year with a 3.61 GPA while majoring in biology and led the Bears cross country team to its second national championship in program history. In a national championship decided by a single point, Lawler led the Bears with a first place finish in which she crossed the 6K finish line in 20:55.0. The Lexington, Mass.-native's individual national championship was the first in program history and led to an abundance of accolades including the USTFCCCA DIII Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year, USTFCCCA DIII Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year as well as being named a finalist for the DIII Honda Award. In addition, Lawler led the Bears to the University Athletic Association (UAA) Cross Country Title as an individual champion at the conference meet. After missing all of the indoor track season, she claimed all-UAA honors during the outdoor season with a second place finish in the 5,000m run.
NICK MATTEUCCI
Matteucci maintained a 4.00 GPA for the third consecutive year while majoring in chemical engineering with a minor in energy engineering. He ran to All-American finishes during all three seasons of action in addition to his second Elite 90 honor of his career. Matteucci is an eight-time All-American of which he ran to five honors this academic year earning one in cross country and two apiece during the indoor and outdoor seasons. He helped lead the WashU men to a runner-up finish in the cross country season with a 10th place finish individually during the 8K race which he posted a time of 24:43.9. Matteucci helped guide the men's indoor team to a program best fifth place finish placing second in the mile with a school record time of 4:07.99 and a third place finish in the distance medley relay (10:00.31). He capped off the year with a pair of All-American finishes on the final day of outdoor nationals less than two hours between the two events by placing fourth in the 1,500m (3:50.41) and eighth in the 5,000m runs (15:01.73). The Bears scored the fourth most points in program history at outdoor nationals with 19 to place 10th overall.
HEIDI NASSOS
Nassos concluded her WashU career with a 3.95 GPA while double majoring in finance and economics & strategy. The six-time All-American earned half of those honors this year including runner-up finishes in pole vault during both the indoor and outdoor national championships. Nassos posted personal-best heights during both meets to place second overall, 3.95m at indoors and 4.00m during outdoors. In addition she placed sixth in the triple jump during outdoor nationals with a leap of 12.25m which set the school record prior to Jose's national championship winning leap. Nassos helped lead the Bears to their fourth straight women's UAA title by earning event titles in the pole vault and triple jump events.
JOHN HARRY WAGNER
Wagner finished his sophomore campaign with a 3.85 GPA majoring in mechanical engineering while running to three All-American finishes in 2019. He was the anchor leg in the national champion 4x400m relay team less than three hours removed from breaking the school record in the 400m dash to claim his first individual All-American honor. In one of DIII's fastest ever recorded 400m finals, Wagner posted a personal-best 49.67 time to place sixth overall to break the mark set by Marvin Williams 32 years prior (47.03). The men's 4x400m relay team posted a school record time of 3:09.77 and ranks as the 14th fastest group in DIII history.
ALY WAYNE
Wayne has a 4.00 GPA in grad school pursuing a Master's in Applied Health Behavior Research after registering a 3.64 GPA as an undergraduate majoring in chemistry. She earned All-American honors all three seasons competed during the 2018-19 academic year helping guide the Bears to a national title in cross country and runner-up finishes in track & field. The Lowell, Mass.-native placed seventh overall at the cross country championship (21:12.6), third in the 5,000m run (16:36.40) at indoors as well as third and fifth place finishes in the 10,000m (36:01.62) and 5,000m runs (17:19.56) at outdoors.