GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – National champions Edward Cheatham of Notre Dame and Michelle Atherley of Miami have been recognized as the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Scholar-Athletes of the Year and lead the sport’s All-ACC Academic Team announced on Thursday.
A member of Notre Dame’s record-setting distance medley relay team, Cheatham is a political science major in the College of Arts and Letters. Miami’s Atherley is a senior majoring in poltical science and minoring in public relations. She is a four-time member of the Miami Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and has been named to both the university’s Dean’s List and Provost Honor Roll.
Cheatham ran the 400-meter (second) leg of the DMR in 48:17 at the NCAA finals, setting up the Fighting Irish for an eventual gold medal finish of 9:31.55. That followed a historic regular season run a month earlier in which Cheatham and his relay mates posted an NCAA leading time of 9:26.10, shattering ACC, Notre Dame and facility marks while coming just 0.12 seconds shy of the NCAA record during the Alex Wilson Invitational.
A Winston-Salem, North Carolina, native who now calls Manlius, New York home, Cheatham also ran the second leg of the DMR at the ACC Championships in 47:54 on Feb. 21 at Blacksburg, Virginia, helping the Irish to a first-place finish in the event there as well.
Atherley earned a spot on the Bowerman Outdoor Preseason Watch List following her eye-opening performances at the ACC Indoor Championships and NCAA finals. The North Port, Florida, native earned field MVP honors at the ACCs after amassing a meet-record 4,498 points in the pentathlon, along with a bronze medal in the high jump and a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.
Atherley then pieced together a gold medal pentathlon score of 4,547 at the NCAA finals that set a new overall ACC record. Atherley claimed Miami's seventh indoor national title while becoming the 11th different Hurricane to win an NCAA crown and the 10th woman to do so.
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September of 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their careers, as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
The ACC Honor Roll, which recognizes all conference student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.0 for the current academic year, will be released in July.
Every member of the 2019 All-ACC Academic Indoor Track and Field Teams also earned All-America and/or All-ACC honors during the most recent season, and/or was named an ACC Performer of the Week.
The complete 2019 All-ACC Indoor Track and Field Academic Teams:
2019 MEN’S ALL-ACC ACADEMIC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD TEAM
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Edward Cheatham, Sr., Notre Dame
Sean Burke, Sr., Boston College
Charles Cooper, Gr., Duke
Rivers Ridout, Sr., Duke
Matt Wisner, Jr., Duke
Kasaun James, Jr., Florida State
David Lott, Jr., Florida State
Bryand Rincher, Fr., Florida State
Brandon Tirado, Sr., Florida State
Avery Bartlett, Sr., Georgia Tech
Nahom Solomon, Sr., Georgia Tech
Christian Buckley, Sr., Louisville
Marcus Jegede, Gr., Louisville
Mitchell Kessler, Sr., Louisville
Grant Rivers, Gr., NC State
Jamar Davis, Fr., NC State
Edward Cheatham, Sr. Notre Dame
Colton Crum, Fr., Notre Dame
Dylan Jacobs, Fr., Notre Dame
Logan Kusky, Jr., Notre Dame
Yared Nuguse, So., Notre Dame
Samuel Voelz, So., Notre Dame
Vincent Zona, So., Notre Dame
Noah Affolder, So., Syracuse
Iliass Aouani, Sr., Syracuse
Aidan Tooker, Jr., Syracuse
Michael Phillips, Fr., Syracuse
Matt Moore, So., Syracuse
Hilmar Jonsson, Sr., Virginia
Matthew Manilli, So., Virginia Tech
Bashir Mosavel-Lo, So., Virginia Tech
Harrision Rice, Fr., Virginia Tech
Peter Seufer, Jr., Virginia Tech
Diego Zarate, Jr., Virginia Tech
Zach Facioni, Fr., Wake Forest
Robert Heppenstall, Sr., Wake Forest
2019 WOMEN’S All-ACC ACADEMIC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD TEAM
Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Michelle Atherley, Sr., Miami
Emeline Delanis, Sr., Boston College
Rebekah Smith, Jr. Clemson
Becky Arbiv, So., Duke
Brittany Aveni, Jr., Duke
Lauren Hoffman, So., Duke
Mackenzie Kerr, Sr., Duke
Kate Kutzer, So., Duke
India Lowe, Sr., Duke
Cassie Martin, Jr., Duke
Madison Harris, Sr., Florida State
Jodie Judd, So., Florida State
Janae Caldwell, Jr., Florida State
Jayla Kirkland, So., Florida State
Nadia Maffo, Jr., Florida State
Militsa Mircheva, Sr., Florida State
Jogaile Petrokaite, Sr., Florida State
Ka’Tia Seymour, So., Florida State
Maudie Skyring, So., Florida State
Bria Matthews, Sr., Georgia Tech
Jeanine Williams, Sr., Georgia Tech
Makenli Forrest, So., Louisville
Alexis Gibbons, Jr., Louisville
Gabriela Leon, So., Louisville
Addie Wanner, Fr., Louisville
Dorcas Wasike, So., Louisville
Debbie Ajagbe, So., Miami
Michelle Atherley, Sr., Miami
Carolyn Brown, Sr., Miami
Selina Dantzler, Fr., Miami
Samantha Gonzalez, Sr., Miami
Brittny Ellis, Jr., Miami
Anna Eaton, Sr., North Carolina
Anna Keefer, So., North Carolina
Dominique Clairmonte, So., NC State
Michelle Cobb, So., NC State
Elly Henes, Jr., NC State
Grace Cronin, Jr., Notre Dame
Rachel DaDamio, Sr., Notre Dame
Mikayla Schneider, Jr., Notre Dame
Rachel Tanczos, So., Notre Dame
Breanna Phillips, So., Pitt
Rachel Bonner, Jr., Syracuse
Laura Dickinson, Fr., Syracuse
Carly Feyerabend, Sr., Virginia
Bridget Guy, Sr., Virginia
Halle Hazzard, Fr., Virginia
Kelly McKee, Sr., Virginia
Sarah Edwards, Jr., Virginia Tech
Sara Freix, Jr., Virginia Tech
Shannon Quinn, Sr., Virginia Tech
Cate Stone, So., Virginia Tech
Alexandria Florent, Sr., Wake Forest
Samantha Halverson, So., Wake Forest
Johanna Schulz, Jr., Wake Forest