Posted: Jul 16, 2018

Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field’s Gradijan Earns Academic All-America Honors from CoSIDA

RINDGE, N.H. (July 16, 2018) – Senior Martin Gradijan (Lebanon, N.H.) of the Franklin Pierce University men’s cross country and track & field program has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team, as announced earlier this summer by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).

To be eligible for selection, each student-athlete must own a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average or higher, be at least a sophomore in academic standing and be a starter or significant contributor athletically. Only Academic All-District First Team selections appear on the Academic All-America ballot. The Academic All-District and All-America teams are voted on by sports information directors in the district and nation, respectively.

It is the first career CoSIDA Academic All-America selection for Gradijan, who was selected to the Academic All-District Team for the first time this spring.

When the nomination period for the awards was open, which was before the conclusion of the spring semester, Gradijan held a 3.97 grade-point average as a biology major. During the cross country season in the fall, he turned in a 74^th-place finish in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, as well as a 56^th-place finish in the NCAA Championship East Regional. Gradijan’s indoor track season included a run on the 4x800-meter relay team, which finished third at the NE10 Championships. In the outdoor season, he finished fifth at the NE10 Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase, as well as 23^rd in the 5000 meters.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics’ official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce cross country and track & field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics’ online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).