For the third consecutive season, Army West Point Track & Field alums, Lynne Mooradian ’20 and Ben Petrella ’20 have been named as members of the Academic All-America Division I Track & Field/Cross Country teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Mooradian concludes her historic career as a West Point cadet athlete as the only Women's Track & Field athlete in the nation to be selected as a First Team Academic All-American for the third consecutive season. A mechanical engineering major, she graduated as the top ranked student in the Class of 2020, boasting a 4.22 GPA. Earlier this month, she was named the 31st recipient of the Army West Point Athletic Association Special Award, becoming the first member of the track & field program to win the award since 1989. The Hanover, Pa., native is a four-time Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year and received nation's top individual academic honor as Google Academic All-Academic All-America of the Year in 2018.
"Lynne was a tireless worker on the track and in the classroom," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Mike Smith said. "I have always felt that it was important to leave a place better than you found it. Lynne Mooradian is a great example of that. We are in a better place because of her contributions and I am proud to be associated with her."
With his selection to the Academic All-America Second Team, Ben Petrella is one of only three Men’s Track & Feld/Cross Country athletes in the nation to be named an Academic All-American three years in a row. It has been a year full of accolades for the Liverpool, N.Y., native, as he was named Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year following both the cross country and indoor track & field seasons. A four-time recipient of the league's top academic honor, Petrella closed out his West Point career with a grade point average of 3.94 while majoring in physics.
"Ben pursued excellence from the time he got to West Point and that is what he will do wherever he goes," Smith said. "I am proud of him for having brought so much positive attention to our program. He is a special young man. He never really liked to talk about his accomplishments. He always tried to deflect his success onto those around him. The truth is that Ben made everyone around him better and he will do the same thing in the big Army."
Of the 91 combined members on the Academic All-America Division I track & field / cross country teams, 28 boast a perfect 4.0 GPA. The 15 members of the women's first team have an average GPA of 3.90, while the 15 members of the men's first team have an average GPA of 3.84.