USTFCCCA ALL-ACADEMIC ATHLETES | USTFCCCA ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS

NEW ORLEANS – Suffolk men's track & field and Michael Balestra and Matyas Csiki-Fejer grabbed academic accolades from the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Rams garnered All-Academic Team, while the senior captains collected All-Academic Athlete status from the national organization. 

Will Feldman's squad received the recognition for the fourth consecutive campaign. In order to be eligible for the honor, a program's cumulative team grade point average of all student-athletes who used a season of eligibility must be at least a 3.1 on a 4.0 scale through the most recent semester and/or quarter. 

The blue-and-gold's 44 student-athletes combined for a 3.339 cumulative GPA, which was the 69th best of the 155 NCAA Division III programs honored. On the league scale, Suffolk is one of two Commonwealth Coast Conference teams on the national list as Wentworth joined the Rams. 

Csiki-Fejer repeated as an All-Academic Athlete for track & field, after earning the program's first individual honor last season, while Balestra garnered the feat for the first time.

For an individual to be considered for the distinction, the qualification is two-fold with an academic requirement of a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale and an athletic prerequisite of finishing among the top 50 individuals on the Track and Field Rank and Results System (TFRRS) list. In addition, any student-athletes, who are not among the top 50, but did participate in either in the indoor or outdoor national championships, are eligible. 

Csiki-Fejer, continued his standout showings in the classroom as the dual major in public policy and pre-law kept his academic report perfect with a 4.0 GPA. On the track, the Manchester, Missouri, local competed in long-distance events at NCAAs in both indoor and outdoor. He also had top 50 performances in multiple events to exceed qualifications for this academic recognition.

Balestra, meanwhile, put together a 3.653 GPA, while working towards his undergraduate degree. The field-athlete had the 35th-best performance in NCAA DIII in the hammer (54.28m) in the outdoor season to receive the academic accolade for the first time in his collegiate career. 

Balestra and Csiki-Fejer are two of three students from the CCC to be honored with the award along with Wentworth's Kyle Moser.