BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University had eight cross country athletes (four men, four women) selected to the 2025 Southland Conference All-Academic team announced league officials Thursday. This is the first time LU has had multiple academic all-conference athletes from both the men's and women's teams since 2022.
Nominees are voted upon by an awards committee, which consists of an administrator from each institution. To qualify for this honor, a student had to achieve and maintain a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and complete one semester of athletic competition at the nominating institution. Student-athletes must also be a starter or significant contributor and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competitions.
The four women named were
Claire Bibb,
Anna Eischen,
Lauren Polk, and
Ashton Rainey. Rainey (Ocean Spring, Miss.) earned a 3.89 GPA majoring in biochemistry. She was the top female runner for the Cardinals in all five meets, which included two top 10s at the Northwestern State Pre-SLC Cross Country Meet (5th; 14:31.6) and the SLC Championship meet (7th; 20:57.6), where she earned all-conference first team honors.
Bibb (Anna, Texas) had a 3.30 GPA in marketing while Eischen (Rowlett, Texas) earned a 3.48 GPA in exercise science and Polk (Frisco, Texas) achieved a 3.70 GPA in biology.
Three of LU's four male athletes,
Kenny Bibb (Anna, Texas; Physics),
Luke Parker (Rotherham, England; Exercise Science) and
Ryan Servantes (Mission, Texas; Biology) had perfect 4.0 GPAs in their respective majors, while
Riley Trent (Tomball, Texas; Biology) was a 3.78 student majoring in biology.
The men's team finished fourth in the conference championship meet with 130 points, while the women placed eighth.
