The Creighton men’s cross country team has earned the academic national title for the fall. The team had a cumulative GPA of 3.76 which led the country while five of the men’s runners had a perfect 4.0 GPA in the fall.

“It’s a pretty incredible accomplishment when you think about it; to be literally No.1 in the entire country,” head coach Chris Gannon said.

Gannon also noted that his program has had some recent success when it comes to running and it’s good that they are also having success in the classroom.

“We’ve accomplished a lot on the running side of things the last couple of years, school records, all time performances and our first ever regional ranking this fall and to see that we’re getting it done on both sides of the equation is pretty special,” Gannon said.

One issue that student-athletes nationwide struggle with the most is balancing school work and time put towards training for their respective sports, but this is a challenge the Jays have taken head on.

The Bluejays’ women’s cross country team was also accomplished in the classroom this year.

The women’s cross country team was marked as tied for seventh academically in the country with a GPA of 3.83. Three women finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA and the entire roster finished with a mark of at least 3.75.

Only one other university had both their men’s and women’s cross country programs in the academic top ten, Harvard.

The two Jays team’s combined for the best cumulative GPA in the nation as the university was the only in the country with both programs averaging over a 3.75.

Senior Aidan King claims that the culture surrounding the program sets the student-athletes up for success.

“The impressive part is that they’re doing it at Creighton with the challenging majors and pre-professional programs we offer, or in one of the top business programs in the country,” Gannon said.

Last season the men’s team reached new heights not only academically, but out on the course as well as they were ranked regionally for the first time in program history.

“On the cross country course and track, we are rewriting the all-time Creighton performance charts,” Gannon said. “It’s pretty exciting to be successful in both areas and to continue writing history.”