Rachel Whitley Named Academic All-MAC

CLEVELAND -- Western Michigan cross country's Rachel Whitley has been named Academic All-MAC by the Mid-American Conference.

This is the first ever Academic All-MAC award for cross country for Whitley. She was WMU's second finisher most of the season, never finishing a race outside the Broncos' top five. The junior finished second overall at the Cardinal Classic with a 6k time of 22:27.7, helping WMU to a first place finish. She also ran a season-best 6k time of 21:42.10 and finished just .2 seconds from being named All-MAC to finish 15th overall. Whitley was WMU's top finisher at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship with a 6k time of 22:05.10.

To be eligible a student-athlete must have maintained a 3.20 cumulative GPA and has participated in at least 50-percent of the games. Voting is done by the Faculty Academic Representative by each school in the MAC.