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ACC XC program continues to raise the bar academically

News Photo by Jonny Zawacki On Tuesday, nine Alpena Community College cross country runners received Academic All-American honors for the 2017-2018 season. The team also earned Academic All-American honors for the third consecutive year. Pictured left to right are: ACC head coach Mark Jacobs, Kolin Ghidoni, Dallin Toth, Azaiyah Bell, Oliver Rice, Austin Enns, Sheldon Elkie, Isaac Cross, Evan LeTourneau, Levi Goebel and ACC president Don MacMaster.

There are 125 junior college cross country teams in the nation. There are 1,400 junior college cross country runners in the nation.

Of those numbers, the 2017-2018 Alpena Community College cross country team and its runners rank among the top academically in the nation.

“It’s really just a wonderful thing. I am so proud of all of these guys. This is what a student-athlete is in my perception and I’m proud of the work that they put in and they all did great work. They deserve this,” ACC president Don MacMaster said.

On Tuesday, nine Lumberjacks were honored for their hard work and dedication inside the classroom. Of the nine student-athletes, Kolin Ghidoni, Dallin Toth, Azaiyah Bell, Oliver Rice, Austin Enns, Sheldon Elkie, Isaac Cross, Evan LeTourneau and Levi Goebel all earned Academic All-American honors individually.

Out of the 1,400 junior college runners in the nation, 90 were Academic All-American and the ACC cross country team consisted of 10 percent of the Academic All-American team in the nation with nine.

For their efforts, the 2017-2018 Lumberjacks finished third in the nation as a team overall with a cumulative grade point average of 3.85.

“As a coach, this probably has to be one of my most proud moments in 35 years of coaching. I’ve never met a finer group of young men. These guys were like brothers. They all looked after each other whether it was in practice or in the classroom. They define the word team,” ACC cross country coach Mark Jacobs said. “Last year I said I wasn’t sure if I will ever have a team like this again and now I know I will never have another team like this. I appreciate with all of my heart and soul the hard work that each of these men put in. I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to coach these guys.”

With the Lumberjacks earning Academic All-American honors this season, it marks the third consecutive year the team has earned the prestigious honor. Three years ago, the ACC cross country program set a goal to be the school’s first ever Academic All-American team and they haven’t looked back. The Lumberjacks have only set their goals higher as they became the first team in school history to be back-to-back and now here they are, three years and counting.

“I think it just goes to show that when you put your mind to something, what a team can achieve. Every day, everyone was helping each other out and if anyone needed help, we picked each other up and it all worked out well,” ACC cross country captain Kolin Ghidoni said. “It was great to continue to be apart of this great tradition and I’m hoping that each ACC cross country team from here on out continues to push themselves academically and continue raising the bar and maybe one day we’ll go get that number one rank.”

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