NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On Wednesday, College Sports Communicators released its at-large academic all-district team, naming seven student-athletes from the Vanderbilt cross country and track and field programs.
Max Beck, Joslin Blair, Kaira Brown, Caroline Eck, Madison Fuller, Philip Metcalf and Jada Sims were among those honored.
In order to be nominated for academic all-district honors, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of scheduled competitions, maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and hold at least sophomore standing academically and athletically. Each individual is now eligible to be voted Academic All-America®.
Beck earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and chemical biology this month. He was nominated as Vanderbilt’s 2022-23 SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year and has been recognized on the SEC’s Fall Academic Honor Roll three times. The Tenafly, New Jersey, native has competed at a total of two SEC Cross Country Championships, recording a personal-best time in 2022 (28:14.1).
Blair of Eagle, Colorado, is a rising senior double majoring in medicine, health and society and psychology. At the 2022 SEC Cross Country Championships, she finished 102nd overall with a personal-best time of 21:59.6. At the 2023 Pepsi Florida Relays, Blair came in ninth place in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:34.12. She has been named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll each of the last two seasons and the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll in 2022. In 2020-21, Blair was a member of the First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll.
A 2022-23 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports-Scholar of the Year finalist and Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Brown graduated in May with a double major in public policy and Latino and Latina studies. She qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 4×400-meter relay in 2022 and has competed at the NCAA East Regionals three times (2021-23). This indoor track and field season, Brown earned a bronze medal in the 4×400-meter relay (3:33.23) at the SEC Championships and second-team All-SEC honors. A native of Somerset, New Jersey, she is also a two-time member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic team (2021, 2022), a two-time member of the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll (2021, 2022) and was named to the First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2019-20.
Eck, from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, graduated in May with a degree in human and…