St. Louis - The Missouri Valley Conference has announced the 2021 Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Teams, following the completion of the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship last weekend in Normal, Illinois at Weibring Golf Course, hosted by Illinois State. Headlining the teams are the Scholar Athletes of the Year and meet champions, Anneka Murrin of Loyola and Isaac Basten of Drake.

Scholar-Athlete honors require athletes to meet performance standards, as they must finish among the first 20 runners at the conference championship and hold at least a cumulative 3.3 GPA and be a sophomore in athletic and academic standing to earn a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team. For the top honor, Scholar Athletes of the Year are the top finisher who meet the qualifications for the team.

This year's women's Scholar Athlete of the Year, Murrin won the championship with a 6K time of 20:35.3 and currently holds a 3.86 grade point average in Exercise Science.



While on the men's side, Basten won the 8k race in a time of 24:13.0. Academically he is a Data Analytics major and carries a 3.37 GPA.



Twenty-six women's and men's student-athletes met the criteria. Both Elite 17 Award Recipients are represented on the two teams. Bradley had the most honorees on the men's side with five men, while Loyola had the most on the women's side with four women.