UNCP’s Ndhlovu, Flagler’s Bonus Named Cross Country Academic All-Americans

TOWSON, MD – UNC Pembroke’s Pardon Ndhlovu and Flagler’s Alex Bonus were both named Capitol One Academic All-Americans as the men’s cross country and track team was announced on Wednesday. The award is widely regarded as the highest individual honor a student-athlete can achieve, as it measures success in the classroom and success on the course.   Bonus was placed on the second team while Ndhlovu was named third team.  Clayton State track standout Robert Spezzacatena was also selected to the third team.  The team is administered and selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Ndhlovu, a Zimbabwe native, is the most recent all-American in track & field athlete after clinching a fourth place finish in the 10000m run at the 2012 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships with a time of 31:26.45 in the event. This season he collected 10 top-5 finishes including five first place finishes with two at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. He led the Braves in four different events including the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m runs which grabbed him USTFCCCA all-region honors.

During the cross country season, he was named to the USTFCCCA All-Region Team, USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, Peach Belt Conference All-Conference Team, PBC All-Academic Team, USTFCCCA Male Athlete of the Year for the Southeast Region and PBC Runner of the Week for three consecutive weeks (Sept. 6, Sept. 12, Oct. 3). The business administration major garnered PBC Runner of the Year with his first PBC Individual Champion honor at the PBC Championships with a time of 25:11.93 to post the 10th fastest 8K time in school history and lead the Braves to a second place finish in the league.

He also set the school record in the 8K by four seconds at the Charlotte Invitational with a time of 24:24.20 for an overall third place finish out of 260 athletes and first among all NCAA Division II athletes. While maintaining a 3.31 grade point average, he finished the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship as region champion (marking his fourth first-place finish this season) for the first time in his career with the second fastest 10K time in school history (30:55.5) to lead UNCP to a fifth place finish in the region.

Bonus is the first men’s cross country runner from Flagler College  to earn Capital One Academic All-America® honors and the first runner to earn the award since the school became a full-fledged member of Division II in 2009.

The senior posted a perfect 4.00 grade point average this year and graduated last April with a degree in communications. He is a three-time Academic All-Peach Belt Conference honoree and is a three-time PBC President’s Honor Roll Gold Scholar. Bonus also earned the Flagler College Athletics Director Award for having the highest GPA among his fellow male student-athletes. He competed in all six meets last fall and posted a season-best 8K time of 27:40.15 at the Peach Belt Conference Championships.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.  Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

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