GREENWOOD, Ind. – UIndy student-athletes
Lauren Bailey and
Ben Nagel were named to the Academic All-America® Track & Field/Cross Country First Team, announced Wednesday. Voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
The release marks the first career Academic All-America® for Nagel, while Bailey – a third teamer in 2020 – becomes first-ever two-time honoree in UIndy women's track & field/cross country history. Additionally, UIndy finishes the 2020-21 academic calender with
12 Academic All-Americans, setting a new school record for a single year.
With major contributions across the entire academic calendar, Bailey's 2020-21 will go down as one of the greatest seasons ever by a Greyhound. The senior from nearby Westfield, Ind., started the year with two Cross Country National Athlete of the Week awards before earning GLVC Cross Country Runner of the Year honors as well as GLVC Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades.
She followed that with an indoor season for the ages, winning the program's second indoor event title as the national champ in the 5,000-meter race. She added a second indoor All-America nod with a fifth-place finish in the 3K, and later capped of the spring with an eighth-place showing in the 10K at outdoor nationals.
Bailey finished her time at UIndy as a six-time All-American while owning school records in the cross country 6K; the indoor 3K, 5K and distance medley relay; and the outdoor 5K and 10K. She graduated this May with a 3.70 GPA in Public Health Education & Promotion and is off to graduate school at Notre Dame this fall.
Meanwhile, Nagel orchestrated a breakout junior campaign. The Mooresville, Ind., product qualified for indoor and outdoor nationals in the 800, earning his first career All-America nod with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. He set the school record in both 800-meter disciplines as well as the distance medley relay, and was also the GLVC champ and an All-Midwest performer for the outdoor iteration.
A 4.0 student in Actuarial Science, Nagel garnered his third straight GLVC Brother Gaffney Distinguished Scholar Award and was the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner for DII indoor track & field.