In the ever-changing world of college athletics, the term ‘student-athlete’ is sometimes lost in translation as the collegiate level looks more and more professional. However, the 2024 Fall SEC Honor Roll proves that student-athletes are still thriving in both facets of their daily routine.
Ten men’s cross country runners were among the 135 total Longhorns named to the list in Texas’ inaugural semester in the Southeastern Conference. In all, 1,608 student-athletes across cross country, football, soccer and volleyball programs were honored by the conference.
“I think (the cross country team members) define perfectly what the term student-athlete means,” said Greg Metcalf, the men’s distance and cross country coach.
An SEC student-athlete qualifies for the honor roll through a grade point average of at least 3.0 over the past academic year or cumulatively. An undergraduate student-athlete must have completed 24 semester hours of academic credit towards a bachelor’s degree and a graduate student-athlete 18 toward a master’s degree.
For Texas men’s cross country, seven undergraduate students made the list. Nathanael Berhane, an electrical and computer engineering honors junior, and chemistry sophomore Luis Pastor worked through science curricula to earn spots on the honor roll. From the McCombs School of Business are business sophomore Hudson Bennett and finance junior Emmanuel Sgouros.
Also on the list are sustainability studies sophomore Jack Boyd, textiles and apparel senior Jackson Braddock and advertising junior Hudson Heikkinen.
Graduate student Rodger Rivera and seniors Trey Rios and Isaac Alonzo are all working towards their master’s degrees. While Rios is going into community and regional planning and Rivera into design focused on health, Alonzo hopes his degree in sports management keeps him in collegiate running.
“Running has always been a part of my life and it’s kind of hard to see that go away,” Alonzo said. “(Coaching) is the end goal. If it is here at Texas, that would be great. Or if it is somewhere else, I want to make sure (I’m building) a culture that values the same things we do here at Texas (which is) performing at the best both on the track and in the classroom.”
With travel ingrained into college athletics, time management and planning are crucial to a successful student-athlete lifestyle. For cross country specifically, all eight meets were located away from Austin, with five outside of Texas.
“At the beginning of every quarter, you give your professors or instructors a schedule of missed class dates,” Metcalf said. “So, it requires a level of communication with your instructors or professors that is above and beyond what a normal student has to do.”
Flexibility is needed to maintain the student-athlete balance as well.
“If we are going to expect young people to fly all over the place and go to meets, then we also have to have the ability to adjust and adapt our practice schedule to make sure the academic box gets checked,” Metcalf said.
As collegiate sports continue to evolve, acknowledging academic distinction continues to be important. It just means more in Texas’s new athletic conference.
“It is always good to be part of the first of something, with us joining the SEC this year,” Alonzo said. “I’m super happy about it. Everyone always thinks about your athletic accomplishments, but academic accomplishments are pretty good too.”
