(Editor’s note: Montana State Athletics press release)
BOZEMAN – Montana State’s Alec Nehring and Chris Bianchini were honored on Thursday, June 27, as the Bobcat pair were named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Cross Country/Track & Field teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
A total of 45 student-athletes were selected to the Google Cloud Division I Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-America team. Since 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America recognition on male and female athletes in Divisions I, II and III of the NCAA as well NAIA athletes, covering all championship sports.
Nehring was selected to the Google Cloud Academic all-America Second Team and Bianchini earned Third Team honors. Both have amassed 4.0 GPAs while attending MSU.
Nehring earned his second all-conference award by taking third in the shot put at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships. The Manhattan, Mont., native set a lifetime best in the event at the meet with a throw of 58 feet, 1 inches. That mark moved him to sixth in program history in the shot put and was 94th in Division I track and field during the 2019 indoor season. Nehring was a Big Sky Winter All-Academic Team selection. He was a junior during the indoor season and is majoring in mathematics.
Bianchini placed sixth in the 800-meter run at the Big Sky Indoor Championships. He was a member of the Bobcats’ gold-medal distance medley relay squad that completed the eighth fastest mark in program history. The Snohomish, Wash., native was selected to the Big Sky Winter All-Academic Team. Bianchini was a top-three finisher in all 800 races he appeared in during the indoor season. He was a sophomore during the indoor schedule and majors in mechanical engineering.
Carley McCutchen was the last Bobcat to earn Academic All-America status as she garnered a Second Team selection in 2015. The last Bobcat men’s athlete to earn Academic All-America honors was Matt Atkinson-Adams when he was chosen as a Third Team selection in 2010.
The award honors student-athletes who have performed well academically while regularly competing for their institution. In each program, All-District selections were selected by the CoSIDA membership with the resulting first team All-District selections advancing to the national ballot for Academic All-America team selections. The national ballot was cast by members of the Academic All-America Committee and CoSIDA Board of Directors.
