Jan. 30, 2018
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Nahom Solomon was named the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is joined by junior Mary Prouty on the all-ACC academic team. Solomon marks the first recipient of the Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for Georgia Tech.
“It’s a great honor for Mary and Nahom to be recognized by our conference for their outstanding efforts in the classroom and in our sport,” head coach Alan Drosky said. “Both of them are tremendous representatives of our program. We’re proud of them and their commitment to success in all their endeavors. It’s also a great honor for our Associate AD for Student Services, Phyllis Labaw, and her professional staff of LaToya Ballard, Reid Ferrin, and Cameron Allen. As a team, they work tirelessly with Mary, Nahom, and all of our student-athletes.”
Touting a 3.85 fall GPA in computer engineering, Solomon became the first Georgia Tech student-athlete since Kevin Graham in 1994 to earn all-America honors in men’s cross country. His 10k time (29:44.36) at the NCAA Championships was a career-best and the fastest by a Yellow Jacket runner since Graham’s NCAA finals effort 23 years earlier.
One of only three ACC men to earn NCAA all-America cross country honors in 2017 and an all-NCAA South Region honoree, Solomon finished his career leading the Yellow Jackets in every meet in which he competed during his final two collegiate seasons. Georgia Tech posted three top-five team finishes last fall.
While working to a perfect 4.0 fall GPA in computer science, Prouty also paced the Georgia Tech women’s team in two races, while earning a top-two finish in each 2017 meet she competed in. Prouty led the Yellow Jackets to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Regionals, placing 22nd overall with a 20:39.3 time in the 6K race to earn all-NCAA South Region honors. She also led the way for Tech at the ACC Championships, finishing 28th overall with a time of 21:01.2.
Prouty helped lead Georgia Tech women’s cross country to receive eight votes in the USTFCCCA Division I National Coaches’ Top-30 Poll – ranked fifth-highest in the “other’s receiving votes” category and the third-highest ranked ACC team. It marked the first time since 2002 that the Yellow Jackets had received votes in the national poll.
Established in 2007, the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports who have maintained a 3.0 GPA, as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters. Academic requirements for selection to the all-ACC Academic team are a 3.0 GPA for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative GPA for one’s academic career, as well as outstanding athletic accomplishments.
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