Feb. 18, 2011
USTFCCCA Men's Scholar-Athletes | USTFCCCA Women's Scholar-Athletes
Veiga's Finish at the NCAA East Regional
Junior All-American Jeff Veiga (Lowell, Mass.), fresh off the UMass Lowell men’s cross country team’s best individual finish since 1991, was named the NCAA Division II Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday.
Veiga enjoyed a cross country season for the ages as he placed third individually at the NCAA Championship on Dec. 4 in Louisville, Ky. in 30 minutes, 52.8 seconds (10K). The result is UMass Lowell’s best individual finish since it captured the NCAA Championship in 1991 with three runners in the top four spots.
The feat followed the NCAA East Region Championship, which he captured in 30:08.0 – a Franklin Park Division II record – and led UMass Lowell to its fifth straight championship and ninth in 11 years.
The honor also hailed Veiga’s academic accomplishments as he has maintained a 3.33 cumulative grade point average as a business management major. Perhaps more impressive, he earned a 3.925 last fall while juggling the rigors of UMass Lowell’s cross country schedule.
“The greatest thing about this is that this was his best semester athletically and academically in one package,” said UMass Lowell Head Coach Gary Gardner. “He had over a 3.9 GPA this semester. It just speaks volumes of what he accomplished this fall, inside and outside the classroom.”
The USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year is determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest individually at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
“Jeff has made himself a super-disciplined guy,” Gardner added. “His GPA has gone up every semester, and so have his athletic accomplishments. He is a guy who never misses a mile. That discipline has carried over to the classroom.”
Veiga was also one of five UMass Lowell men’s and women’s cross country runners who were named to the USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic teams.
He joined three-time recipient Angus MacDonald (Methuen, Mass.) and two-time winner Kelly Walton (Nahant, Mass.). Senior Ivory Farren (Chelmsford, Mass.) and sophomore Neha Bhatia (Westford, Mass.), both earned the honor for the first time.
The USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams salute those athletes with at least a 3.25 grade point average and a minimum of 12 credits during the cross country semester while placing in the top 50 percent of the NCAA Championship or the top 30 percent of the NCAA regional championship.
Among his highlights this season, Veiga also placed runner-up at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship and led the River Hawks to their fourth team title in five years. He also placed ninth at the New England Championship, at which UMass Lowell took fourth behind Dartmouth, Boston University, Central Connecticut and Northeastern.
At the NCAA Championship, Veiga finished behind only Michael Crouch of Queens (N.C.) College (30:43.2) and Meshack Koyaki of Columbus (Ga.) State (30:46.9).
Veiga, however, was not the sole highlight of the men’s cross country season as MacDonald earned All-American honors for the second straight year, placing 36th overall and 34th among scoring runners in 3:36.4 at the NCAA Championship.
MacDonald also gave stellar efforts at the East Regional (placing third in 31:03.0) and the NE-10 Championship (third, 24:36.8). He was UMass Lowell’s leader at the New England Championship, placing sixth in 24:39.
UMass Lowell’s 2010 Cushing Award winner for Male Athlete of the Year, MacDonald has maintained a 3.49 in mathematics.
Walton enjoyed a stellar season as she earned NE-10 First Team status after leading UMass Lowell to second place at the NE-10 Championship; as well as All-East Region honors (she placed seventh) in guiding the River Hawks to fifth place.
A civil engineering major, Walton has maintained a 3.32 cumulative average.
Bhatia, who was one of three UMass Lowell student-athletes to receive a 4.0 in the fall, placed 55th (54th among scoring runners) at the East Regional in 24:45.0 while Farren was close behind in 64th (63rd) in 25:01.0.
A business major, Bhatia has a 4.0 average while Farren has maintained a 3.34 as a marketing major.
UMass Lowell takes part in the New England Championship next Friday and Saturday at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.
