July 31, 2018 Article from GOBLUERAIDERS.COM

Raiders, Beckner receive academic honors
 

Photo of James BecknerMURFREESBORO - Academic awards have been rolling in for the Blue Raider men's golf program of late, as Middle Tennessee was named an 18Birdies All-Academic Team while rising senior James Beckner has been named a Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar.

Middle Tennessee was one of 127 teams in Division I men's golf to be named an All-Academic Team with four others from Conference USA joining the list. In order to be named an all-Academic Team by 18Birdies, programs must carry a team GPA of 3.0 or better during the current academic year.

Meanwhile, Beckner made the cut as one of 265 golfers in Division I to be named All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America, a record number for the GCAA.

Among those 265, 12 All-America Scholars hailed from C-USA with only Rice, Southern Miss and UTEP earning multiple honorees.

To be eligible for Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status an individual must be a junior or senior academically, compete in at least three full years at the collegiate level, participate in 50-percent of his team's competitive rounds, have a stroke-average under 76, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.

Beckner, A Biology major with a perfect 4.0 GPA, plans to pursue a career in dentistry following his golf career.

The Kingsport, Tenn., native was a staple in the Blue Raider lineup in 2017-18, logging a 73.4 stroke average with 12 rounds of par or better and notched third-place finish at the Memphis Intercollegiate.