College Sports

RICHARDSON - UT Tyler runner R.J. Cowan was selected as the American Southwest Conference Men's Track and Field Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

Cowan, a junior Health & Kinesiology major from Whitehouse, received the same honor in the fall for cross country. He currently sports a 3.8 GPA and finished second in both the 5K and 10K events at the ASC Track and Field Championships in April.

The award is in its inaugural year and is voted on by the league's sports information directors. To be nominated, a student-athlete must participate in 50 percent of his or her team's events and have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA.

Other UT Tyler athletes named to their respective sport's Distinguished Scholar-Athlete team were Brett Holland (baseball), Kristen Akin-Henton (softball), Brandon Ellis (men's golf), Amber Grounds (women's golf), Nick Kreines (men's tennis), Beth Launius (women's tennis) and Ashton Wells (women's track).