NEW ORLEANS -- Five Bates men's cross country runners received USTFCCCA All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Thursday, celebrating their success on the course and in the classroom.

In order to qualify for All-Academic distinction, student athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 on a 4.0 scale and finish in the top-25 percent of their respective regional championship meet.

Senior captain Eli Boesch Dining (Concord, N.H.), junior captain Ned Farrington (Cohasset, Mass.), junior Sam Kartsonis (Narberth, Pa.), junior Victor Kering (Eldoret, Kenya), and sophomore Andrew Mottur (Rumford, R.I.) all earned a spot on the USTFCCCA All-Academic list for Bates. 

Boesch Dining headlines an impressive group, having earned second team All-NESCAC honors and captaining a Bates team that finished 22nd in the country at the NCAA Championships. Fellow captain Farrington, along with Kering and Kartsonis, joined Boesch Dining in earning All-Region honors at the New England East Regional Championships. 

The Bobcats are in the midst of the indoor track and field season, and they compete at Middlebury's New England Small College Invite this Sunday in Boston at the TRACK at New Balance.