2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District Women's Track/Cross Country
BOSTON – For the first time in Suffolk cross country and track & field history, a student-athlete was acknowledged for her efforts on the course and in the classroom as junior Emily Manfra was dubbed Google Cloud Academic All-District as selected by the College of Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA), the organization released.
The 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-District Women's Track/Cross Country Team recognized the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom.
Manfra is one of 11 NCAA Division III competitors in the New England region honored for combined excellence academically and athletically with first-team District 1 honors. The Biology major is the lone GNAC runner to earn the honor and first in Suffolk history to do so.
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-American honorees will be selected later this month.
Manfra had a stand-out junior season with athletic accolades on the conference, region and national level throughout every season.
Things started in the fall for the long-distance runner as she cruised to All-GNAC accolades with a runner-up finish on the conference championship course, crossing the 5k tape in 19:38. She upstaged that performance twoweeks later at regionals where she came through the 6k chute in 22:26.54, good for 17th in the field of 399, which punched her ticket into Suffolk's history books as the first-ever runner to compete at the NCAA DIII Cross Country National Championships.
Manfra made more headlines as the first-ever Suffolk runner to race to All-America status in the mile in the winter. She made her way to the compete on the nation level after producing the Rams' first-ever women's sub-5:00.0 mile at Boston University's John Terrier Classic Jan. 25 when she put together a time of 4:56.82. At nationals, she secured her spot in the finals after running a 5:01.69 preliminary and upstaged that effort the following day with a personal-record time of 4:54.13 to finish fifth overall and secure the All-American accolade.
This spring Manfra completed the national's trifecta earning a spot in the 1500 nationals field. The 2019 GNAC Female Track Athlete of the Year became the first-ever Ram to race at an outdoor national event and finished just shy of All-America feat with a ninth-place showing, three seconds shy of a top-eight mark.
Academically, Manfra has shined as well. While etching her name in Suffolk's running record books she built a 4.0 average in the classroom in the fall of 2018 en route to a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) academics award. Throughout her three-year coursework, she has compiled four perfect 4.0 GPAs to maintain a 3.99 cumulative GPA and pick up GNAC All-Academic Team honors in 2017-18.