Keith Bechtol Named CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Fifth Time

One of Only Two Athletes Ever Honored More than Twice

07/02/07 11:17AM

RICHMOND, VA - Senior Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, Va.) was selected as the Colonial Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men’s track for the third year in a row last week, as the conference honored winners from each of the 10 spring championships. Along with his pair of cross country awards, Bechtol has won five Scholar-Athlete of the Year citations, and is one of only two athletes ever to win more than two.

This season, Bechtol established himself as a national-level competitor at 10,000m, coming within one second of earning All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. The only male from the Colonial Athletic Association at the national meet, Bechtol earned his place by running 28:55.57 in April at Stanford, provisionally qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Trials as well as NCAAs. He was also a stand-out at 5,000m, winning his second CAA title in that event and earning All-East honors both indoors and outdoors. During the cross country season, Bechtol led the team at the Southeast Regional in seventh place, and finished 60th at the NCAA Championships.

This is the latest in a long line of academic honors for Bechtol, who graduated magna cum laude in May with a degree in Physics. Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in December, Bechtol was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America First-Team last week as well, after being a third-team honoree in 2006. A three-time Academic All-District first-team member, Bechtol has conducted research at some of the top physics labs around the country, including the Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, and will continue his academic career by pursuing a Ph.D. from Stanford.