Galloway, N.J. - Six Stockton University cross country runners and the Osprey women's team qualified for academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
 
Stockton women's runners Jaelyn Barkley (Hope/Belvidere), Kayla Kass (Bayonne/County Prep), Rachel Hayes (Marlboro/St. John Vianney) and Guinevere Kennedy (South Amboy/South Amboy) earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete accolades for the second straight year.
 
The quartet of repeat honorees were joined by a pair of first-time qualifiers in women's teammate Olivia Harris (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) and Osprey men's runner Erik Ackerman (Long Valley/West Morris Central). In order to qualify, student-athletes must have a cumulative grade point average above 3.30 and a finish in the top 25 percent at the NCAA regional meet.
 
A squad must have a cumulative GPA of 3.10 or higher to qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. The Stockton women's squad, coached by Claire Incantalupo, amassed an outstanding 3.60 GPA to finish in the top half of 235 NCAA Division III teams who qualified. The Ospreys were the highest NJAC team on the list.
 
Kass, a Health Science major, and Barkley, a Nursing major, qualified for the NCAA Championships by finishing third and seventh respectively at the NCAA Metro Regional on November 11. Kass tied the best finish ever by a Stockton female at an NCAA regional meet and Barkley earned a berth in the NCAA Championships for the second straight year.
 
Kass was an NJAC First Team and USTFCCCA All-Region performer as well as a three-time NJAC Runner of the Week this season. Barkley earned USTFCCCA All-Region and NJAC Second Team kudos during the fall.
 
Kennedy, an Exercise Science major, finished 25th out of 189 runners at the NCAA Metro Regional while Hayes, who is majoring in Chemistry, placed 31st. Kennedy and Hayes both notched USTFCCCA All-Region spots, with Kennedy also collecting an NJAC Second Team nod this year.
 
Harris is a Holocaust & Genocide Studies major who placed 39th out of 189 at the regional meet to earn her first USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete spot.
 
Ackerman finished sixth out of 177 runners at the NCAA Metro Regional and qualified for the NCAA Championships two weeks after winning the NJAC individual title. He added the USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete recognition to a list of honors that includes NJAC Runner of the Year, NJAC First Team, USTFCCCA All-Region and one NJAC Runner of the Week award.