Henry Pick had top-5 NCAA finishes in both the fall and spring
Henry Pick had top-5 NCAA finishes in both the fall and spring
Posted: Jun 22, 2022

Henry Pick Captures Second-Team Academic All-America Honors

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Henry Pick of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country and track and field teams earned second-team Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA), the organization announced today.

Pick's honor came one day after Meredith Bloss earned third-team Academic All-America distinction for the women's cross country and track and field teams. Pick is now the 18th Academic All-American in CMS athletics history, and the third from the men's cross country/track and field programs, joining Jeff MacDonald (third team in 2013) and Thomas D'Anieri (first team in 2020). 

Pick earned Academic All-America accolades after a spectacular junior season, which saw him earn All-America distinction in both the fall and the spring with top-five finishes. He ended up third at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships, breaking the program record for the fastest time in an 8K race by over 40 seconds, while helping the Stags to a sixth-place finish as a team. He was also the SCIAC cross country champion, setting a course record in the process at the Pomona-Pitzer course, and earned the league's Athlete of the Year Award after his individual title. 

In the spring, Pick came in fourth place in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio, earning All-America honors for the second time. He was also the SCIAC Champion in the 5000, and helped the Stags repeat as SCIAC Champions, as well as earn a top-30 finish (28th) at the NCAA Championships. 

The Academic All-America award rewards a combination of athletics and academic achievement, and Pick was equally successful in the classroom, where he carries over a 3.9 GPA as a mathematics and computer science major at Harvey Mudd. 

Both Bloss and Pick have an excellent chance next year to join women's tennis players Kristin Lim (2012, 2013) and Nicole Tan (2019, 2020) as the only repeat winners in CMS department history. Of the 16 student-athletes on the men's cross country/track and field first team this year, only two were juniors, and only 10 juniors made any of the three teams, putting him in strong position to earn it again in 2023.