(Editor’s note: Montana State Athletics press release)
BOZEMAN – Montana State men’s track and field’s Chris Bianchini, Alex Lewis and Alec Nehring were named College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First Team Academic All-District selections, announced by the organization on Tuesday, May 28.
The Google Cloud Academic All-District Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognized the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performance in the athletic realm and in the classroom. Bianchini, Lewis and Nehring were among 10 selections chosen by the seventh district which features Division I student-athletes from the states of Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.
Lewis earned his second Academic All-District selection of his collegiate career, previously being honored during the 2016-17 season.
A senior from Moscow, Idaho, Lewis advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary and placed 19th in the men’s long jump competition, just seven spots out of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. The Bobcat senior became the school record holder in the indoor and outdoor long jump events this year, breaking the program’s longest standing records. His mark of 24 feet, 8.5 inches, set at the indoor championships helped garner him a bronze in the event. He earned a silver medal at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships by matching his outdoor season record mark of 25-02 in Missoula on May 10.
Lewis’s two all-conference performances went along with his inclusion on the Big Sky Winter All-Academic Team. Lewis served as Montana State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president and was selected by his peers as the Bobcat of the Year award winner. He completed his eligibility this spring with a 3.94 grade point average and majored in business accounting.
Bianchini and Nehring each were selected as Academic All-District 7 selections for the first time.
Bianchini is a sophomore and holds a 4.00 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering. The Snohomish, Wash., native placed sixth in the 800-meter run at the Big Sky Indoor Championships. He was a member of the Bobcats’ gold-medal distance medley relay squad that completed the eighth fastest mark (9:52.67) in program history. He was selected to the Big Sky Winter All-Academic Team and was a top-three finisher in all 800 races he appeared in during the indoor season.
Nehring, a junior from Manhattan, Mont., is majoring in mathematics and has amassed a 4.00 GPA. Nehring earned his second all-conference award by taking third in the shot put at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships. He set a lifetime best in the event at the meet with a throw of 58-01. That mark moved him to sixth in program history in the shot put and was 94th in Division I track and field during the 2019 indoor season. He also was a Big Sky Winter All-Academic Team selection.
The Google Cloud Academic All-America program separately recognizes outstanding student-athletes in four divisions – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team (if applicable) Academic All-America honorees will be announced in June.
