(Portions of this story courtesy of Texas Lutheran and Trinity Athletics)
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Four Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field student-athletes have been recognized as CoSida Academic All-District for their performances both on the on the course and track and in the classroom. Complete Academic All-District Release
Texas Lutheran student-athletes Ryan Geiger, Ralph Miller and Ezrael Powell, along with Trinity’s Sean Majors were named to the 2020-21 Academic All-District® 8 First Team.
All four will advance to the national ballot for a chance to be named Academic All-Americans®.
Geiger from Shiner, Texas, will receive his master's degree in education as a summer graduate of TLU. Entering the summer session, he held a 3.88 grade point average in his master's level courses. He posted a 3.79 GPA as an undergrad.
Miller, a sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, holds a 4.0 GPA as a business administration major.
A San Antonio, Texas native, Powell, is a sophomore computer science major with a 3.58 GPA.
Geiger was the 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Champion in the javelin with a throw of 163 feet, 5 inches. His career-best throw in javelin of 168-11 came in a second-place finish at 2020 Trinity Invitational.
A two-time All-SCAC honoree in the javelin, Geiger took third in the javelin at the 2021 SCAC Championships. He also was eighth in the long jump at this year's SCAC meet.
A member of three SCAC team runner-up finishes, Geiger won the javelin at the 2019 TLU D3Challenge and 2019 Hardin-Simmons Invitational. He posted seven career top-3 finishes in javelin.
An SCAC All-Conference honoree as a member of the runner-up 4x400 meter relay team, Miller is a two-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll member.
Miller was part of the relay team that was third in the 4x100 at University of Houston Tom Tellez Invitational and second at the 2021 Aggie Invitational.
Miller played soccer in his first year at TLU and was a member of the Bulldogs' SCAC Championship and NCAA Division III national tournament-qualifier.
Powell was named SCAC Championship Men's Athlete of the Meet after scoring 31.5 points at the 2021 conference championships. Powell won the SCAC 200 and ran a leg on the victorious 4x100 relay team.
Powell added a second-place showing in the long jump at the SCAC Championships, and he was third in the 100 and fourth in the triple jump. He was a big part of TLU's SCAC runner-up team finish.
Powell also was on the 4x100 relay team that was second at the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational and third at University of Houston Tom Tellez Invitational.
Majors, the 2021 NCAA III National Championships qualifier earned his first all-america honor this season with a 7.17-meter long jump for third in May's championship event, which made him the second Trinity men's long jumper to reach all-american status.
The two-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-region selection holds a 3.72 GPA in environmental studies alongside the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship in long jump, his second in the event, third overall.
Majors opened the 2021 campaign by soaring past the Tigers' school-record in the long jump with a 7.35-meter mark on the first day of the Trinity Invitational, the mark that sent him to the NCAA III Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The 2020-21 Academic All-District® Men's Track & Field / Cross Country Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the competition realm and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First, Second, and Third team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in mid-August.
The CoSIDA Academic All-District® teams include the student-athletes divided into geographic districts across the United States and Canada.
The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA national office.
For more information about CoSIDA's Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com on CoSIDA.com.
