May 3, 2007

Columbia, Mo. - Both the Missouri men's and women's cross country squads were recently named 2006 All-Academic Teams by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Individually, Dan Hedgecock, Tim Ross and Amanda Bales were named Academic All-Americans for the 2006 season.

To earn All-Academic Team honors, teams had to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and had to compete in the NCAA regional meet.

The Tigers also landed three individuals on the list. Ross, a senior from Alto, Mich., is majoring in English at Mizzou. Ross has won multiple Academic All-American selections between track and cross country. He finished fifth at the Midwest Regional meet in November , and 126th at nationals.

Hedgecock earns his first Academic All-American honor. The freshman from St. Louis stepped up big for the Tigers in the Midwest Regional Meet, finishing 16th to earn All-Region honors.

On the women's side, Bales made the Academic All-America team with a 4.0 grade point average. She has already earned three CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in her career, as well as multiple awards from track and cross country. Bales finished 16th in the Midwest Regional race.

All-Academic individuals finished in the top 15, or top 10 percent, at the NCAA regional championship, and have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average.

The full list of individual and team honorees can be found at the USTFCCCA web site: http://ustfccca.cstv.com/ot/ustca-awards-all-academic.html