Chadron State's Alejandro Garcia Earns Inaugural RMAC Man of the Year Award
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Chadron State’s Alejandro Garcia earns the inaugural Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Man of the Year Award, announced on Wednesday.
“It’s with great enthusiasm that we introduce the RMAC Man of the Year award this year,” said Commissioner Chris Graham. “The Woman of the Year award has played a significant role in not only recognizing an outstanding student-athlete annually, but in placing an important spotlight on the role of women’s collegiate athletics. The time has come to recognize a standout male student-athlete for his equally impressive accomplishments. Congratulations to Alejandro on this inaugural award, and to Megan [RMAC Woman of the Year] on their achievements.”
The award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.
Alejandro transferred to Chadron State in 2014 and continued his collegiate career in cross country and track and field. During his time with the Eagles, Alejandro was named cross country team captain (2014-17). He has demonstrated athletic excellence throughout his career, by earning All-RMAC First Team (2016) and Second Team (2014) honors in cross country and First Team honors in the men’s 5000-meter run (outdoors, 2017). This year, he was named USTFCCCA All-Region in cross country and Second Team All-American for the 1500-meter run. Alejandro was also a national qualifier in cross country (2014 ,2016) and outdoor track and field (2017). His performances during the 2016-17 campaign led the Eagles to a fourth-place and fifth-place team finish at the RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and RMAC Cross Country Championships, respectively.
Off the track, Alejandro was earning recognition in nearly every academic award possible. The Pine Bluffs, Wyoming native graduated with a 4.00 grade point average (GPA) with a major in Health and Physical Education.
For the past two academic years, he has won a total of 14 RMAC and NCAA academic awards. On the national level, Alejandro earned the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Elite 90 Award, USTFCCCA Cross Country and Track and Field All-Academic, and was recently named 2017 CoSIDA Track and Field and Cross Country Academic All-America of the Year. For the RMAC he was the Summit Award winner in cross country (2016) and indoor track and field (2016), the RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Academic Athlete of the Year (2016) and RMAC Cross Country Academic Runner of the Year (2016).
Aside from his accomplishments on the track and in the classroom, Alejandro dedicated much of his time to the community. He volunteered for events such as Jump Rope for Heart, The Big Event and Health and Fitness Days. These events provided Alejandro an opportunity to teach children ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, the importance of health and physical fitness. He was also the team coordinator and representative for Canned Food Drive for Food Pantry and served as the Cross Country Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative during his senior year.
Alejandro will be recognized at the 2017 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet on Friday, July 14 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. For more information on the event,
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