GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's Mason Coppi and Josh Powers have been selected to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 Men's Track/Cross Country Team, while Emma Kuntz was named to the women's team, as announced this week by the CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee. As members of the all-district first team, the Paladin trio will be placed on the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.
A native of Dana Point, Calif., Coppi graduated in May with a 3.81 GPA in health sciences. He competed in the 5,000m at three-consecutive NCAA East Preliminaries, where he finished 22nd as a freshman in 2017 and 26th as a junior in 2019. He also ran in the 10,000m at the 2019 prelims, placing 32nd. A three-time All-Southern Conference first team selection for cross country, he earned All-Southeast Region recognition in 2017. Coppi was a member of the All-SoCon team for the 3,000m and 5,000m indoors and the 5,000m outdoors. He was named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for both cross country and track and field.
Powers, a sophomore from Greenville, S.C., boasts a 4.00 GPA in Spanish. In 2021, he was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team after placing seventh with a time of 9:56.47 in the 3,000m Steeplechase at the league outdoor track championships. He posted a personal best in the 1,500m at the USC Open and finished tenth in the 3,000m at the Weems Baskin Relays. Powers also placed 11th in the 800m with a time of 1:56.87 at the SoCon Indoor Championships. He is a member of the SoCon Academic Honor Roll and the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team.
Kuntz, who hails from Louisville, Ky., graduated in May with a 3.93 GPA in Mathematics-Economics. An All-SoCon selection in the 800m for both indoor and outdoor track, she qualified for the 2019 and 2021 NCAA East Preliminaries in the event. In 2019, Kuntz placed 20th at the East prelims, turning in a personal-best time of 2:05.85. Kuntz, the 2020 SoCon indoor champion in the 800m, holds Paladin indoor records in the 4x400m relay (3:54.56) and distance medley relay (11:28.98) and in the 4x800m outdoors (8:50.80. A member of USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for track and field, plus the SoCon Academic Honor Roll and the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team, she has received a full fellowship to attend Virginia Tech to pursue a PhD.
Nominations and voting for the Academic All-America programs are conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
