Keith Bechtol Named CAA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Honored as the Conference’s Top Scholar-Athlete in All Sports

07/17/07 10:11AM

RICHMOND, VA - Senior Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, Va.) was honored today as the top male scholar-athlete in all sports by the Colonial Athletic Association. He is the second William and Mary athlete to earn the award since the inception of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2002-03, joining basketball standout Adam Hess ’04.

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 this year 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.

The Scholar-Athlete of the Year award was voted on by the sports information offices from all 12 CAA institutions. The ballot consisted of all the athletes who had been named Scholar-Athletes for their respective sports, 21 in all. Bechtol is the most honored Scholar-Athlete in conference history, having earned five awards (three in track, two in cross country), and one of only two athletes to ever earn more than two.