Xavier's Pieri named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Matt Pieri is one of 159 men's cross country runners named a 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete, the national organization announced Friday.

Pieri, a junior pharmacy major from New Orleans and a graduate of Brother Martin High School, is the only Gulf Coast Athletic Conference runner, male or female, to earn the honor this season.

Xavier's Matt Pieri is the lone Daktronics - NAIA Scholar- Athlete
 in cross country from the GCAC this season.

Pieri is a three-time All-GCAC runner with a fourth-place finish at the 2009 league meet, the individual championship in 2010 and third place this season. He has been GCAC Runner of the Week a conference-record 10 times in his career and has helped Xavier win GCAC team championships in each of his three seasons.

Student-athletes are nominated by their institution's head coach, must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved junior academic status to qualify for Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Both Xavier teams will compete Saturday in the season-ending NAIA National Championships at Vancouver, Wash. The men's 8,000-meter race will begin at 10:30 a.m. PST (12:30 p.m. New Orleans time), followed by the 5,000-meter women's race at 11:45 a.m. PST.


By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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