The NDSU men’s track and field team led The Summit League by earning seven of the 16 spots on the Academic All-League team for the 2021 outdoor season.
Trevor Otterdahl, Benji Phillips, Tony Ukkelberg, Jacob Rodin, Josh Samyn, Elliott Stone and Alex Talley all earned the honor by virtue of their athletic and academic achievements.
Otterdahl, from Rosemount, Minnesota, earned his degree in mathematics with a 3.96 cumulative GPA, and is now pursuing a Master of Business Administration with a 4.00 GPA. He was an NCAA West Prelims qualifier in the hammer throw and shot put, and placed second in the hammer and sixth in the shot at the Summit League Championships.
Phillips, of Glasgow, Montana, earned first-team All-America honors in the javelin, placing eighth at the NCAA Championships and earning the NCAA Elite 90 Award for owning the highest cumulative GPA – a 4.0 in exercise science and psychology – at the national meet.
Ukkelberg, Clitherall, Minnesota, is a pre-med psychology major with a 4.00 GPA. He won his second straight Summit League decathlon title.
Rodin, of Kenmare, North Dakota, was a Summit League champion in the 1,600-meter relay and league runner-up in the 800. He has a 4.0 GPA as an agricultural economics major.
Samyn, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, has a 3.93 GPA as a biological sciences major. He won the Summit League 1,500 title.
Stone, Bismarck, North Dakota, finished his NDSU career ranked fourth all-time at NDSU for the outdoor 5,000. He is a three-time Academic All-American with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Business Administration, with 4.0 cumulative GPAs in both.
Talley, from West Fargo, placed sixth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Championships for first team All-America honors. At the Summit League Championships, he won both the shot put and hammer throw to earn Championships Field MVP. He has a 3.47 GPA in civil engineering.
To be eligible for the team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30, completed at least one full academic year at the current institution and participated in 50 percent of their team’s competitions. The award is voted on by the institutions’ faculty athletic representatives and sports information directors.
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