COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Chadron State cross country runner Kyle Shirley won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's highest academic honor when he was named the winner of the 2024 RMAC Men's Cross Country Summit Award by the conference office Saturday. 

Shirley earns the honor by accumulating a perfect 4.0 GPA across 137 completed credit hours. Shirley, a general business major from Queen Creek, Arizona, receives the award on the same day that he ran a season-best time at the RMAC Cross Country Championships in Las Vegas, New Mexico.  

The RMAC Summit Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA who is also competing at the site of the finals for their respective sport's championship. Summit Award winners must have competed in 20 percent of available competitions throughout the current season. All GPAs are based on a straight-grading scale to ensure consistency among nominees. All ties are broken by the total number of credit hours completed through the most recently completed semester.

To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be a sophomore or above, academically, and have participated in their sport at their institution for at least two years. Student-athletes must be active members of their teams, traveling and competing at the RMAC championship event.

Shirley has competed in all four of CSC's cross country meets this season, racing in a 6K at the Gage McSpadden Invitational and 8K races at the Roadrunners Invitational and Colorado Springs XC Open. 

Saturday, at the RMAC Cross Country Championships, Shirley ran an 8K in 26:55.94, besting his previous season best by two second. Shirley finished 80^th overall in the meet and was the top-placing men's runner from Chadron State. 

Along with the rest of the Eagles, Shirley will compete next at the South Central Regional Championships on Saturday, November 9.