NEW ORLEANS, La. --- The Portland Pilots men's cross country team has been named the men's D1 Scholar Team of the year, announced the USTFCCCA on Friday morning. The Pilots earn the honor after a historic 2017 season which ended with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships, marking their highest ever finish in program history. The Lady Lobos of New Mexico, who won the women's team title in 2017, was named the Women's D1 Scholar Team of the Year.

"There are no short cuts at the University of Portland," said head coach Rob Conner. "When evaluating prospects I have always looked at GPA first and athletic ability second. We want the best students we can find. As a coach you can never lose when you take that approach. We have a team full of motivated, organized, and hard working people. I am very proud of their efforts in class and at practice. "
 
Portland was the top finishing team from their gender with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The impressive season included a dominant performance at the West Regional, with Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse, Jeff Thies, and Nick Hauger finishing first, second, and fourth, respectively, to lead Portland to their second ever Regional title. Following that weekend, the same three Pilots claimed All-American honors with top finishes at the NCAA Championships, while the remainder of the team all placing in the top-55 to clinch the second-place finish.
 
Taryn Rawlings, who also competed at Nationals as an individual, landed on the 2017 NCAA D1 Women's All-Academic list.
 
Overall, there were 423 teams that brought home All-Academic honors. Of those 423 teams, 228 of them were women's programs and 195 of them men's.