Three runners honored as Academic All-OAC for Cross Country/Track & Field

By: Monique Bowman

ADA — Three track & field/cross country student-athletes have been recognized by the conference faculty athletic representatives for their work in academics and athletics.

Seniors Garrett Brown (Atwater/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) and Shane Huntley (Sandusky/Perkins) have been named Academic All-OAC while junior Mallory Bloom (Kenton) has been named Academic All-OAC Honorable Mention for Cross Country/Track & Field.

Brown, a senior pharmaceutical business major, is a four-time All-OAC track athlete specializing in sprints and hurdles.

At this year's conference championships, Brown posted five top-8 finishes, including an OAC title in the distance medley relay and an All-Conference second-place finish in the 400 hurdles. The latter was also an NCAA provisional mark, his first of the season.

A civil engineering senior, Huntley is a seven-time All-Conference track athlete in long sprints events. At the indoor conference championship, he earned All-OAC honors finishing third in the 500 run and second as a member of the 4x200 relay.

Huntley is also a member of the 4x400 relay team that earned an NCAA provisional mark during the indoor season.

In addition to being an exercise physiology major, Bloom is also a multisport athlete as a cross country runner and track athlete.

At the end of the 2010 cross country season, she earned All-OAC honors with a seventh place finish at the conference championships. It was her second All-Conference honor of her career.

On the track, Bloom also earned three top-8 finishes at each of the conference championships, including an OAC title in the 10,000 run.

Both Polar Bear track & field teams are still in action, as they are competing at the Gregory Invitational at North Central (Ill.) this weekend.