Batty Named Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Junior Miles Batty the Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year in Division I for 2011.

Batty, a junior from Sandy, Utah, was the NCAA indoor champion in the mile (3:59.49) and led the Cougars to a national championship in the distance medley relay as anchor. Batty accumulated a 3.95 cumulative GPA in neuroscience and exercise science. Batty was also named the USTFCCCA National Indoor Track Athlete of the Year by the nation’s coaches earlier this season.

Batty is the first BYU athlete to win the award and is the second athlete from a non-BCS school to be honored.

Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards are determined from those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest in individual events at the most recent NCAA Championships. Those who earn multiple individual championship titles rank higher in the tie-breaking process, and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker to establish a winner.

Batty was also named to the USTFCCCA Division I All-Academic Track & Field team, along with nine other Cougars. Alden Bahr, Colby Barber, Jacob Cosby, Tanner Emrich, Trevor Heiner, Cade Lindahl, Nate Ogden, Jared Rohatinsky and Rex Shields were named to the All-Academic team alongside Batty.

BYU’s 10 honorees ranked fourth in the nation, behind Minnesota (12), Nebraska (12) and Stanford (11).

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met either of the following athletic standards: for the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org; for the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).

USTFCCCA 2011 Division I Track & Field All-Academic Honorees

• Alden Bahr
• Colby Barber
• Miles Batty
• Jacob Cosby
• Tanner Emrich
• Trevor Heiner
• Cade Lindahl
• Nate Ogden
• Jared Rohatinsky 
• Rex Shields