NEW ORLEANS -- Capping off her decorated collegiate career with another national honor, Monica Lannen was named to the USTFCCCA National All-Academic Track & Field Team after wrapping up a tremendous senior campaign at Christopher Newport in 2020.

The prestigious award marked Lannen's fifth career academic honor from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Previously, she earned a spot on the National All-Academic Cross Country Team during each of her four seasons in the fall.

Making the award even more special, she became just the fifth Captain in the past 15 years to earn national academic plaudits for both cross country and track & field in the same school year. Placing her name alongside some of the finest student-athletes in program history, she joined former men's standouts Jeff Dover (2017-18) and Daniel Read (2016-17) and women's stars Jessica McClelland (2013-14) and Dira Hansen (2009-10) as the most recent legends to sweep the national awards.

To earn the recognition, student-athletes were required to hold at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA while also qualifying for the NCAA Championships or finishing the year ranked in the top-50 nationally in their respective disciplines.

Lannen starred in the distance events throughout the 2020 campaign. The Reston, Virginia native threw down a season-best time of 5:08.16 in the mile during the Tufts National Qualifier, which marked the finest effort by any athlete in the South / Southeast Region. For that performance, she earned a bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships, becoming only the second Captain to qualify for the title meet in that event.

In addition to her work in the mile, Lannen also walked away with league titles in the 800 and 4x400-relay during the Capital Athletic Conference Championships. For her efforts during the winter, she earned All-Region plaudits while garnering first-team All-Conference and All-State accolades. Additionally, the marketing & management major secured CoSIDA Academic All-District nods for her performance in and out of the classroom.

Along with Lannen, both the men's and women's track & field squads were also named USTFCCCA National All-Academic Teams after boasting cumulative team GPAs above 3.1. The national award marked the 10th straight for the women's squad, while the men were celebrated for the second consecutive year.

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