Six Terps earn all-district academic honors

COLLEGE PARK, MD A total of six members of Maryland's track and field and cross country programs earned Academic All-District honors, as announced by the College Sports Communicators.

Third Akinduro, Jayla Bynum, Anna CoffinAnd Good luck Njoku represented the women's program, while Eric Albright And Rhys Allen earned the distinction on the men's side.

To be named to the CSC Academic All-District team, student-athletes had to have at least a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 and be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing. Nominees also had to rank among the top 50 of the TFRRS.org regional rankings in at least one single event for track and field or among the top 50 at the 2023 NCAA regional meet during the cross country season.

Third Akinduro Indoor and outdoor athletics for women
Second Year – Public Health Sciences – Silverstone, Ontario

2024 Academic All-Big Ten
8th in the region during the outdoor season for the triple jump (41' 6″) and 13th during the indoor season (40' 11.75″). Also ranked among the top-50 regionally in the 400 hurdles (35th, 1:02.36) and long jump (37th, 18' 2.25″) during the outdoor campaign. Akinduro reached the NCAA East First Round meet during this past outdoor season. She established both her personal bests in the 400 hurdles as well as the long jump at the Kehoe Twilight Meet in May and her mark in the triple jump at the Virginia Challenge. Her performance at the Virginia Challenge is the fifth-best triple jump in program history.

Jayla Bynum Indoor and outdoor athletics for women
Senior – Sociology – Hutchinson, KS

2023, 2024 Academic All-Big Ten
Ranked third in the region for shot put both indoors (51' 6.25″) and outdoors (51' 6.5″). Bynum qualified for the NCAA First Round competition in the shot put last spring and reached the NCAA East Prelims in both the 2022 and 2023 outdoor seasons. Her career-best finish in the outdoor shot put came at the Big Ten Championships of 2023 (52' 2.5″), where she placed 10th.^eoverall, a performance that ranks as the sixth-best in program history. Her throw of 50 feet, 7 inches at the Hokie Invitational this spring ranks fifth all-time in program history.

Anna Coffin Women's cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field
Graduate – Geospatial Data Science – Annapolis, MD

2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Academic All-Big Ten
2021 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award
Three top-20 regional finishes per year: 13th in the 1,500 meters (4:19.99) during the outdoor season, 19th in the mile (4:45.33) and 20th in the 3,000 meters (9:31.58) during the indoor season season. Also 35th (2:12.62) and 39th (2:10.42) respectively in the indoor and outdoor 800 meters. During the cross country season, she placed 39th at the NCAA Regional Meet. Coffin also competed in the NCAA East First Round competition during the offseason. The graduate student finished her career second in the 3,000 meters (9:31.58), and third in the mile (4:45.33), third in the 1,500 meters (4:19.99). She was part of the school record-holding 4×800 relay team at the Penn Relays with a time of 8 minutes, 42.96 seconds. She was also part of the fifth-ranked 4×800 team (2024 Penn Relays) and the ninth-ranked quartet (2022 Penn Relays). Additionally, in 2022, she was part of the distance relay team that posted the fifth-fastest time in program history at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

Good luck Njoku Indoor athletics for women
Senior – Management Studies – Newark, DE

The top-ranked weight thrower in the region (69' 9″) during the indoor season, who also ranked 22nd nationally. Njoku posted her highest mark of the season and the second-best throw in program history at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational in February before placing sixth at the USATF Indoor Championships and 11^eat the Big Ten Indoor Championships in the weight throw. Before competing at Maryland, Njoku was a thrower at Delaware, where she was a three-time medalist at the CAA Championships with a second-place finish in the weight throw in 2023 and a pair of second-place finishes in the hammer throw in 2021 and 2022. .

Eric Albright Indoor and outdoor athletics for men
Junior – Mechanical Engineering – Glen Mills, PA

2023, 2024 Academic All-Big Ten
Ranked 11^eregional in the 800 meters (1:48.26) during the outdoor season and was 16^eduring the indoor season (1:49.82). Also member of the 4×400 relay team during the outdoor campaign that finished 18th^eregional (3:16.09). Albright also had a top-10 finish at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, placing seventh with a time of 1:49.13. During the 2023–2024 academic year, Albright set personal best times in four different events between the two seasons: 400 meters outdoors (50.13 seconds), 800 meters outdoors (1:48.26), 1,000 meters indoors (2:23.23) and the indoor mile (4:09.56). His PRs in the indoor 800 meters and 1,000 meters are the indoor records in Maryland. He also holds the outdoor record in the 800 meters and was a member of the school record 4×800 relay team at the 2023 Penn Relays. He is also a member of Maryland's second- and fourth-ranked 4×800 relay teams and the second-ranked distance relay team.

Rhys Allen Indoor and outdoor athletics for men
Second year – Economics – Southampton, England

2024 Academic All-Big Ten
During the outdoor season he ranked fifth regionally in the discus (184' 10″), while he was 11^ein the shot put (56' 3.75″) during the indoor season. He also moved up to 14^ein the region in the shot put with a score of 56' 1.25″ at the Penn Relays. Allen had two wins in the discus this past outdoor season (Maryland Invitational, Kehoe Twilight Meet) and finished second at the George Mason Ebanks Invitational He won also the shot put at the Maryland Invitational and finished second at the Ebanks Invitational. He also placed second in the shot put at the Hokie Invitational and third at the Navy Invitational during the indoor season 10-inch is the sixth best throw in the program history, while also ranking 10th^eall-time with his PR for the indoor shot put.