Keith Bechtol, Meghan Bishop Repeat as CAA Scholar-Athletes of the Year in Track and Field

Juniors Win Unprecedented Third Scholar-Athlete Awards

06/20/06 6:37PM

RICHMOND, VA - Juniors Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, VA) and Meghan Bishop (Blue Bell, PA) were honored by the Colonial Athletic Association today as the 2006 Track and Field Scholar-Athletes of the Year. They each won their third award after earning the titles last spring for track and field and this past fall for cross country. They become the only athletes in the four-year history of the CAA Scholar-Athlete program to win more than twice. Bechtol and Bishop are eligible to be considered for the overall Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, which are selected from the winners of each of the CAA’s 21 sports.

Bechtol was the 10,000m CAA Champion this season, setting the meet record in the event at the end of April. He also earned All-East honors after finishing third at the IC4A Championships. Earlier today, Bechtol was named as a member of the COSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America third team after amassing an overall GPA of 3.95 in his six semesters in Williamsburg. As a rookie in 2004, he was named the CAA track Rookie of the Year after winning both the CAA 5,000m and the IC4A 10,000m. He ran the fastest 10,000m by an American Junior that year, and finished as the top American at the IAAF World Junior Championships. In cross country, he earned his second all-conference nod by finishing seventh at the CAA Championships, and also ran for the Tribe in the victory at the Southeast Regional and at the NCAA Championships.

Bishop had a breakout year both in cross country and on the track. A biology major with a 3.73 GPA, she led the Tribe in every race during the fall, finishing fourth at the CAA Championships, earning All-Southeast honors by finishing in the top 25 at the Regional Championship, and crossing the line in 76th at the NCAA Championships. In recognition of her performance on the cross country trails, the women’s cross country coaches association (WICCCA) named her an Academic All-American in January. In track, Bishop earned All-East honors indoors after running 9:31.25 for fourth-place in the 3,000m at the ECAC Championships, good for fourth all-time in school history. Outdoors, she also moved into fourth-place in the school records after running 16:18.49 in the 5,000m at Stanford, qualifying for the NCAA East Regional. She took second in the CAA 1,500m, and was the runner-up in the 3,000m at the ECAC outdoor championships for her second All-East honor of the year.