HIGH POINT, N.C. – The College Sport Communicators announced the 2024 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Track & Field teams. CSC recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the track, in the field, and in the classroom. Six members of the Track & Field Teams were named to the All-District team on Tuesday, June 18^th, including Sydney Horn, Auriane Viola, Lindsay Cooper, Chris Van Viekerk, Reid Holloway and Cole Wilson.

An undergraduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale). A graduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) as both an undergraduate and a grad student unless they are in their first semester as a graduate student and don't have an established graduate GPA. Eligible nominees will be based off of TFRRS performance list rankings at the time of nomination. Note: ONLY INDIVIDUAL TOP 50 PERFORMANCES ARE TO BE USED FOR ELIGIBILITY. 

Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. Sydney Horn, Chris Van Niekerk and Reid Holloway await the voting for the All-America ballot.
 
Horn made her fourth appearance at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in early March and placed third overall for her second highest placement at the Indoor Championships. She cleared 4.45m and was awarded her seventh consecutive All-American honor since joining the Panthers as a freshman. At the Big South Indoor Track and Field Championships she recorded a new personal best of 4.51m to break the HPU program and Big South records and earn first place.
 
Viola joined the Panthers in the fall of 2023 and competed at eight indoor meets and 11 outdoor meets. She earned a spot on the podium at both the Big South Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the pole vault finishing third at indoors with a height of 4.14m and first in outdoors with a height of 4.15m. Making the NCAA East Regional, she vaulted a personal best 4.20m to finish 17th overall.
 
Cooper competed in seven indoor meets and 12 outdoor meets this season. She was crowned the Big South 100-meter hurdles champion after clocking a 12.09 time and the 400-meter hurdles champion with a time of 59.15. During the outdoor season she recorded new personal bests at the Wake Forest Invitational in the 100m hurdles (13.64) and the 400m hurdles (58.41). Her 400m hurdles time punched a ticket to the NCAA Eat First Round in late May.
 
Van Niekerk was announced as the Big South Field Athlete of the Year following the completion of the 2023-24 season. He claimed Second-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships following his 18.82 performance in the shot put, becoming High Point's first-ever men's outdoor track & field All-American in the event as well as the Big South's first shot put All-America since 2013. He punched his ticket to the National meet with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA East First Round with a Big South and school-record throw of 19.12m. Van Niekerk was the Big South Outdoor Champion in the shot put and discus, becoming the first men's student-athlete in Big South history with three career individual titles in both events and won the shot put with a Championship meet-record 18.77m. 

During the outdoor season, he was a five-time winner in the shot put, in addition to two victories in the discus. Van Niekerk was the Big South Indoor Champion in the shot put with a meet-record throw of 18.63m, his third career conference gold medal in the event, and one of four victories this season. He also recorded a season-best distance of 16.89m in the weight throw at the Conference Championship to earn points with his fourth-place finish.
 
Representing men's pole vault, Holloway competed in 17 meets between the indoor and outdoor seasons. At the Big South Indoor Championships, he placed third overall with a height of 4.78m and at the Big South Outdoor Championships he took home first place with a clearance of 5.15m. His personal best height of 5.23m at the Charlotte Invitational helped him qualify for the NCAA East First Round where he vaulted 5.22m to finish 24th overall.
 
Wilson joined HPU in the fall of 2023 and competed in five meets during the indoor season, including the heptathlon in two of the meets. He was crowned the Big South Heptathlon Champion after recording 5,360 points with personal bests in the 60m (7.17) and the 60m hurdles (8.49). He placed first in every event except the 1000m. During the outdoor season, he competed in seven meets and represented HPU in the decathlon at the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Big South Outdoor Championships. He first broke the program record at the Bryan Clay Invitational with 7,431 points but later broke his own record at the Big South Outdoor Championships with 7,466 points and a Big South Individual Title. He finished first in seven events and second in the other three events while recording new personal bests in the 100m (10.84), 400m (50.07), javelin (53.48m) and the 1500m (4:45.62).