NEW ORLEANS -- Five Captains secured a spot on the National All-Academic cross country squad, while both the men's and women's teams also picked up awards for their combined work in the classroom as Christopher Newport was well represented among the national academic honorees, which were announced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Thursday afternoon.
 
Among the individual award-winners, Monica Lannen was celebrated as a National All-Academic Scholar-Athlete for the fourth straight year, while Jason Putnam picked up the honor for the third consecutive season. Meanwhile, Samantha Dickerson was a second-time recipient of the prestigious award, and both Logan Funk and Eric Speeney were first-time honorees.
 
In order to earn the award, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher while finishing in the top-25 percent at their respective regional championship meet.
 
Along with the individual honorees, the men's and women's squads were both honored as USTFCCCA National All-Academic Teams.  In order to qualify, a squad must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.1.
 
The women's squad received the national award for the 11th time since 2007, while the men were previously honored in 2012.
 
Capping off a decorated cross country career, Lannen tacked on a standout senior campaign to her impressive legacy. During the 2019 season, she was an All-Conference and All-Region performer, including a 15th-place finish at the South / Southeast Championships. The management major eventually posted a time of 22.21.1 at the title meet, which established a new PR and vaulted her to sixth on the program's all-time performance list.
 
Putnam also hauled in All-Conference and All-Region accolades while punctuating his career with a terrific senior season. During the year, he finished 15th at the South / Southeast Championships after registering a fourth-place showing at the CAC meet. Notching his place in history, the neuroscience major became just the second Captain to record first-team All-Conference accolades as both a freshman and senior.
 
Rounding out the senior standouts, Dickerson helped lead the Captains to the CAC Championship after posting a team-best third-place finish at the league competition. Two weeks later, she came back with one final starring role at the regional championships when she placed 36th overall. A communication studies major, she leaves the program ranked 13th in school history in the 6k after clocking in at 22:52.2 during the Paul Short Run in October.
 
Piecing together a strong junior season, Speeney garnered All-Conference honors for the first time in his career after coming in 12th during the league race. Saving his best performance for the final competition, the electrical engineering major came back during the South / Southeast Regionals with a time of 26:30.0. That clocking shaved over a full second off his 8k PR and placed him 44th overall at the championship competition.
 
During a solid sophomore season, Funk also saved her finest effort for the Regional Championships after clocking in at 23:30.6 during the South / Southeast meet. That performance cut 11 seconds off her previous PR and vaulted her to 25th on the program's all-time performance list. Earlier in the year, the accounting major also came in 22nd at the CAC meet following a season-best 16th-place showing in the 5k at the William & Mary Invitational.
 
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