Cowan Earns UT Tyler’s First Academic All-America Honor
June 23, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Cross country and track & field junior student-athlete R. J. Cowan, of The University of Texas at Tyler, was named an Academic All-American for both sports by the College Sports Information Directors of America and ESPN The Magazine on Monday.

Cowan is the first student-athlete in UT Tyler history to earn Academic All-America honors.

The award serves as the proverbial “cherry on top” for Cowan who garnered several awards during the 2007-2008 season.

During the past year, Cowan received All-Conference honors in cross country and track & field. Additionally, Cowan earned Academic All-Conference honors and the ASC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award for both sports.

Cowan won two cross country meets in 2007, including the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional meet and qualified for the Division III National Championships. He helped UT Tyler win its third straight ASC men’s cross country title and earn the Championship’s first-ever perfect score. For his performance in 2007, he was named Male Athlete of the Year for the South/Southeast region by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Cowan also set the UT Tyler record in the 8K during the 2007 cross country season.

Aside from national athletic honors, Cowan earned national academic honors as well. He was named Individual All-Academic by the USTFCCCA and Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-District by the CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine. Cowan was also one of two recipients of the ASC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for UT Tyler.

Cowan was also named Male Athlete of the Year and Student Athlete of the Year for UT Tyler.

The Whitehouse, Texas, native was just one of 45 student-athletes to be honored by CoSIDA out of more than 300 finalists representing over 160 different NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA institutions.

Cowan was the only American Southwestern Conference representative on the list and just one of two finalists from his district to earn the honor. Patrick Grewe of Oklahoma Christian University was the only other of the 10 district six finalists named as an Academic All-American. Grewe received third team honors.

To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his or her current institution, be nominated by his or her sports information director and be named to the first team in his or her CoSIDA district. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

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