June 24, 2008
Xuehan Xiong - a member of the UA men's track and field team - was named as an ESPN The Magazine's First Team Academic All-American for university students on Monday, as announced by the College Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA).
Xiong, a sprinter for the Wildcats, has maintained a 4.0 cumulative GPA through his junior year at the University of Arizona as he pursues a degree in computer sciences.
Xiong came to the UA as a freshman from Wuhan, China in 2005 after being recruited by Arizona associate coach, James Li - another Chinese native. Xiong had an impressive stint on the Chinese Junior National team during his high school tenure, earning himself honors as the Chinese Junior National Champion in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.54. His 4 x 100-meter relay team also claimed third place at the Asian Junior Championships in 2004.
As a Wildcat, Xiong has been an active member of the men's 4 x 100-meter relay team over the past two seasons. He served as both the first leg and anchor leg of this year's team throughout the season, helping to lead the team to a season's best time of 39.52 seconds. The team also claimed first place at the NCAA West Regional Championships and competed in the NCAA National Championships.
Xiong also has competed in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes during his three seasons at the UA, recording a wind-aided best time of 10.36 in the 100m and 21.34 in the 200m. Even with his impressive record as a track athlete, Xiong has still managed to perform just as well, as demonstrated by maintaining his 4.0 GPA despite his obligations to the track team.
UA head coach Fred Harvey added that the award was huge because of the fact that very few athletes can be named to the first team and to be chosen by ESPN The Magazine to top it off just makes it that much better.
With the honor, Xiong became the 16th UA athlete since 2000 to be named to the magazine's list, the seventh track and field athlete to earn the honor and the fifth UA athlete to be named to the first team in that time. He is the first track athlete since 2003 to be awarded the honor.
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