CHADRON, Neb. – A total of three Chadron State cross country runners –
Lydia Peters and
Samantha Rodewald on the women's side and
Adam Beard on the men's side – earned RMAC All-Academic First Team honors from the league office on Thursday.
In addition, seven other Eagles earned a spot on the honor roll alongside the three first-team honorees – women's runners
Katelyn Beshara,
Kyndall Carnahan,
Ivy Hise,
Izabella Miller and
Zelma Rudd plus men's runners
Nate Mann and
Miles Mitchell.
The three selections match a program record for most selections in a single season, set last year by a group of three that included Peters, who became the first women's cross country First Team All-Academic selection since 2017 last season and now has back-to-back honors to her credit.
Peters and Rodewald's selections mark the first time two women's cross country teammates have each earned first team honors in the same season in CSC history.
Rodewald and Beard have each won First Team honors for the first time in their careers after appearing on the All-Academic Honor Roll last season. Beshara, Hise, Miller, Mann and Rudd have all made the honor roll for the second consecutive year while Mitchell and Carnahan each do so for the first time in their careers in 2025.
Peters, who has a 4.0 GPA as a sport, fitness and recreation major, was first across the line for the team at the RMAC Championships and second among CSC runners at regionals. Peters finished fifth at the Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Open to help the Chadron State women win the team title at the event. Peters, a senior, hails from Sidney, Nebraska.
Rodewald is now Peters's running mate on the All-Academic First Team with a 4.0 GPA as a rangeland management major. Rodewald, a McCook, Nebraska native, was CSC's top finisher (94
th) at regionals and also had two individual top 10 finishes at the Gage McSpadden 4K and the Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Open.
Adam Beard, who has a 3.89 GPA as a business administration major, was a key contributor on the men's side, racing in all five competitions for the Eagles and placing 103
rd and within CSC's scoring five at the RMAC Championships. He ran a career-best 10K in 35:31 at regionals, improving on his 2024 time by over two minutes.
The RMAC Cross Country Academic Athletes of the Year awards went to Colorado School of Mines's Margaux Basart (women's) and Cody Wyman (men's).
