MSU placed three athletes on Academic All-America teams across two sports this year.
Mackay and Quijera Named Academic All-Americans
June 21, 2018 | Track & Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State's JT Mackay and Nicolas Quijera have earned spots on the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team selected by CoSIDA. Both men received third-team selections.
"We all have the same goal for our athletes when they leave, and that's to graduate and be a better athlete than when they came," head coach Steve Dudley said. "That's our number one rule on the team. We firmly believe that as a staff and are able to inject that into the attitudes of our kids."
Mackay is a junior finance major, boasting a 4.00 GPA. The Dayton, Ohio, native has been named to the President's List and earned Top Dawgs Honors with a 4.00 GPA in each of the last three semesters. He was named to the SEC Spring Honor Roll in 2017 and First-Year Honor Roll for 2015-16.
"I'm extremely honored to have been selected," Mackay said. "I'm blessed to be recognized for the hard work I've devoted toward school. I could not have gotten to this point if it weren't for my family, coaching staff, professors, teammates and all of MSU. I would like to thank them all for creating an environment where we are students first, then athletes."
On the track, Mackay broke his personal best in the 10,000m at the Penn Relays this season, shaving 23 seconds off his previous best. At the SEC Championships, he placed 15th in the 10,000m.
Quijera, the NCAA runner-up in the javelin, was also named the SEC Men's Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year ahead of the conference championships where he won a bronze medal. He graduated in early May with a degree in economics, finishing with a 3.92 GPA and earning a spot on the President's List and Bulldog Honor Roll in every semester of his career.
"I had two focuses at MSU: track and school," Quijera said. "I'm very proud of the accomplishments in the field and the classroom because I know the hard work I put into them."
Quijera and Mackay join Nuno Borges of the men's tennis team to give MSU three academic all-Americans. Emily Heimberger (softball) and Anastasia Rentouli (women's tennis) earned first-team all-district honors.
For more information on the MSU track and field team, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching @HailStateTF. You can also find all access coverage on SnapChat by searching 'HailStateSnap'.
"We all have the same goal for our athletes when they leave, and that's to graduate and be a better athlete than when they came," head coach Steve Dudley said. "That's our number one rule on the team. We firmly believe that as a staff and are able to inject that into the attitudes of our kids."
Mackay is a junior finance major, boasting a 4.00 GPA. The Dayton, Ohio, native has been named to the President's List and earned Top Dawgs Honors with a 4.00 GPA in each of the last three semesters. He was named to the SEC Spring Honor Roll in 2017 and First-Year Honor Roll for 2015-16.
"I'm extremely honored to have been selected," Mackay said. "I'm blessed to be recognized for the hard work I've devoted toward school. I could not have gotten to this point if it weren't for my family, coaching staff, professors, teammates and all of MSU. I would like to thank them all for creating an environment where we are students first, then athletes."
On the track, Mackay broke his personal best in the 10,000m at the Penn Relays this season, shaving 23 seconds off his previous best. At the SEC Championships, he placed 15th in the 10,000m.
Quijera, the NCAA runner-up in the javelin, was also named the SEC Men's Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year ahead of the conference championships where he won a bronze medal. He graduated in early May with a degree in economics, finishing with a 3.92 GPA and earning a spot on the President's List and Bulldog Honor Roll in every semester of his career.
"I had two focuses at MSU: track and school," Quijera said. "I'm very proud of the accomplishments in the field and the classroom because I know the hard work I put into them."
Quijera and Mackay join Nuno Borges of the men's tennis team to give MSU three academic all-Americans. Emily Heimberger (softball) and Anastasia Rentouli (women's tennis) earned first-team all-district honors.
For more information on the MSU track and field team, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching @HailStateTF. You can also find all access coverage on SnapChat by searching 'HailStateSnap'.
Players Mentioned
Dis
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