Jun 21, 2006
WALTHAM, Mass. – Recent Bentley graduate Ryan Agnew (Spencer/David Prouty HS), a two-time All-America in cross country and the school record-holder in three track events, has been selected to the 2006 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® Men's Track and Cross Country third team (college division) by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Agnew, who was previously selected as the recipient of the Edward J. Powers Scholar Athlete Award as Bentley's Outstanding Senior Scholar Athlete, becomes the seventh Academic All-America produced by the Falcon track program, the first since Jason Hobbs in 1999.
"Ryan worked extremely hard at both running and his academics, and was obviously successful at both," praised Bentley track and cross country coach Ed Lyons. "He is a true example of what a student-athlete should be at Bentley. This is a great honor personally for him and for our track and cross country program."
In cross country, Agnew became only the second runner in the program's history to earn Division II All-America honors twice, a distinction he garnered after finishing 17th in the 2005 NCAA Division II championships and 34th at the 2004 championships. He competed in the NCAA championship following each of his four collegiate seasons.
The 2005 cross country season saw him also win the NCAA Division II Northeast Region, finish second in the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, and placed eighth in the New England Championships. He was selected as Bentley's MVP and was also named the NCAA Division II Northeast Region Runner of the Year.
In track, Agnew owns the Bentley outdoor records in both the 10,000 meters (30:17.83) and the two mile (9:18.97), and is the indoor standard-bearer in the 3,000 (8:20.01). A regular on the Northeast-10 All-Academic teams in both cross country and track, Agnew competed in the outdoor nationals in the 10K in both 2004 and 2005.
His outstanding career also included conference championships at three different distances (indoor 3,000 in 2005, outdoor 5,000 in 2004 and outdoor 10,000 in 2003).
In the classroom, Agnew finished with an impressive 3.58 grade point average as a public policy and social change major.
Agnew was one of five New England athletes named to the 2006 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Men's Track and Cross Country teams. MIT's Uzoma Orji was a first-team selection in the college division, and Colby's Jason Foster joined Agnew on the third team. In the university division, Northeastern's Aaron Hill was a second-team honoree and Jon Korhonen of UMass was named to the third team.
