FRISCO, Texas – Sophomore
Alicia Finnis of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi cross country team was honored for her work both on the course and in the classroom on Thursday afternoon, as it was announced by the league office that she was named the Southland Conference Women's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year for the fall season.
In addition to this, Finnis was also joined by seven other Islanders on the conference's All-Academic Team. On the women's side, freshman
Sharon Jemeli, sophomores
Neele Heyne and
Embla Hreimsdottir and junior
Abbey Coberly were also awarded with the prestigious honor, while sophomores
Kye Lowth and
Diego Canto and senior
Ewan Wheelwright earned the nod on the men's side.
"I am extremely proud of Alicia and all the Islanders who were named to the All-Academic Team," Islanders head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "This is a testament to their hard work in the classroom."
Finnis, a native of Salisbury, England, was one of the Islanders' top performers all throughout the 2025 season, scoring points at every meet by finishing second on the team at one meet and third at the other five. At the Southland Conference Championships, she finished in fourth place overall with a 6k time of 20:50.7 to earn a spot on the All-Conference First Team, and a few weeks later, she placed 37
th overall at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships. Finnis accomplished all of this while thriving in the classroom, finishing the semester with a 3.91 cumulative GPA while working toward her degree in Civil Engineering.
"I couldn't be more excited for Alicia receiving the honor of Student-Athlete of the Year," Jackson said. "She is one of the hardest-working athletes I have ever had the honor of working with."
As for the All-Academic Teams, the remaining Islanders all earned their spots by finishing the semester with at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA while also participating in at least 50 percent of the team's meets during the fall season.
Jemeli, from Eldoret, Kenya, completed the semester with a cumulative GPA of 3.69 while working toward a Nursing degree. She finished as a top five performer for the team four different times, including a 74
th place finish overall at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships.
Heyne, from Schkeidotz, Germany, raced at all six meets during the season and scored points once at Cross Country at the Seashore while also setting a new personal best of 22:17.9 in the 6k at the SLC Cross Country Championships. She finished the semester with a cumulative GPA of 3.81 while working toward a degree in Psychology while also posting a mark of 3.83 in the fall.
Hreimsdottir, a native of Norolingaholt, Iceland, also worked toward her Psychology degree during the semester, finishing with a 3.58 cumulative GPA and a 3.60 in the fall. She finished in the team's top five at three different meets this season, including placing 18
th at the SLC Cross Country Championships.
Coberly, from Flower Mound, Texas, finished the semester with a perfect 4.00 cumulative GPA in her University Studies major. She raced at four meets in 2025, with her best finish coming in 14
th at Cross Country at the Seashore with a 4k time of 15:44.2.
On the men's side, Lowth, from Brisbane, Australia, was arguably A&M-Corpus Christi's most consistent runner, earning points at all six meets while finishing first on the team at three of them, including an individual victory at the Gerald Richey UTA Invitational. He also earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team after placing ninth overall at the SLC Cross Country Championships before then finishing in 29
th place at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships two weeks later. He completed the semester with a cumulative GPA of 3.89 in his Communication Studies major.
Canto, a native of Corpus Christi, also earned points for the Islanders at all six meets, finishing as high as second on the team on two separate occasions. He started the season with a fourth-place finish overall at Cross Country at the Seashore, and at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, he set a new personal best in the 8k with a time of 23:58.9. He completed the semester with a cumulative GPA of 3.45 while working toward a degree in Management.
Wheelwright, from Halifax, England, steadily increased his level of performance throughout the 2025 season, placing inside the team's top five on five different occasions and culminating things by finishing 12
th at the SLC Cross Country Championships to earn a spot on the All-Conference Second Team and 45
th at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships. He finished the semester with a cumulative GPA of 3.27 GPA in his Kinesiology degree, including a perfect 4.00 in the fall.
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