LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's track and field junior distance runner Daniel Howell was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-American third-team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Tuesday.
Howell, a Manti, Utah native, is the lone Western Athletic Conference athlete to receive the honor this season along with being one of two athletes from the state of Utah to garner the accolade, joining Miles Batty of BYU who was named to the first team.
USU has only had two athletes receive Academic All-American status since USU joining the WAC in the 2005-06 season as Howell joins Erin Stratton who was honored in 2010. Howell was nominated with a GPA of 3.95 in the wildlife sciences along with being named academic all-WAC five times in his career and being a CoSIDA Academic all-District honoree each of the last two years. Howell has also received the Utah State Joe E. and Emma Whitesides Scholar-Athlete award each of his three seasons as an Aggie.
During the 2011 Outdoor Championships, Howell placed second in the 3,000m steeplechase and third in the 5,000m along with earning first-team all-WAC honors twice in 2010 by placing second in the 3,000m (indoor) and third in the 5,000m (outdoor) and being a two-time first-team all-WAC recipient in cross country. Overall, he is an eight-time first-team all-WAC honoree during his cross country and track career, winning the 3,000m steeplechase at the 2011 Indoor Championships and placing second in the 5,000m along with earning second-team all-WAC honors three times.
"We always stress academics first to our teams and that is why they are at Utah State," said veteran USU head track coach Gregg Gensel. "It is good to know that Daniel Howell and all of our athletes are serious about their studies, and I am proud of them. Not only for their successes on the track, but also because of the focus they display in the classroom."
In 2011, the Utah State men won their third-straight WAC Outdoor Championship along with their second-straight WAC Indoor Championship when they shared the title with Boise State. For the USU women, they placed second behind Louisiana Tech in both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships with their highest finish since 2001 when they finished second during the outdoor season.