Meredith Bloss Earns Third-Team Academic All-America Honors

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Meredith Bloss earned a spot on the CoSIDA Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Division III Academic All-America third team, the organization announced today.

Bloss was an All-American in both cross country and indoor track and field season for the Athenas, while qualifying for the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships in two different events (5000 meters, 10000 meters(. She was also the SCIAC Champion in cross country and in the 10000 meters in outdoor track and field season, while setting program records in cross country (6K race at the UC Riverside Invitational) and track and field (10000 meters at the Mt. Sac Relays). 

Bloss' efforts also helped Claremont-Mudd-Scripps win SCIAC championships in both cross country and track and field. In cross country season, she helped the Athenas finish second at the NCAA Division III Championships (just two points out of first), marking the highest finish in program history. During outdoor track and field season, her first-place finish in the 10000 meters and her top-three finish in the 5000 meters provided important point totals to a narrow team victory, as CMS edged Redlands by 24 points.

In between, Bloss finished seventh in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, earning All-America honors for the second time. She was then tenth in the 10000 meters during the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Academic All-America award rewards student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically, and Bloss had an outstanding performance in both areas this year. An engineering major at Harvey Mudd, Bloss carried over a 3.85 GPA during the 2021-22 academic year. 

Bloss becomes the second Athena in program history to earn Academic All-America honors, joining Tyra Abraham, a second-team selection in 2018 after winning two national titles in the 100 meters. She is the 17th CMS student-athlete to ever earn the award, and has a chance to become only the third to win it twice next year, joining Kristin Lim and Nicole Tan, both of women's tennis.