RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Felician University student-athlete Mike Secreti (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) has been voted to the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® Men’s Track & Field/Cross-Country Third Team for NCAA Division II. The teams, which were announced today, are coordinated and selected by CoSIDA.

A 5-foot-11, 145-pound junior, Secreti is an Academic All-American for the first time. He is the ninth Felician student-athlete, and second men’s cross-country runner, to be so honored in the 20-year history of the University’s athletics program. His selection is the 12^th overall for the Golden Falcons, including three two-time honorees.

A complete list of Felician’s CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and Academic All-District honorees can be viewed at www.felicianathletics.com/information/Ac-A-A.

“Mike is the embodiment of the student-athlete balance,” said Felician head coach Rob DeCarlo Jr. “He is one of the most motivated young men I have ever worked with. He has made a conscious decision to excel in both aspects, and continues to impress his peers, professors, and fellow competitors with his commitment to excellence.”

In the 2015 cross-country season, Secreti finished fifth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men’s Championship race, earning all-CACC honors for the second time. Two weeks later, he placed 35^th at the Division II East Regional. He was the individual champion at the Bill Fritz/Charlie Way Invitational, hosted by Rowan College-Gloucester County, on Sept. 19. Felician does not sponsor varsity men’s track & field.

A two-time member of the Academic All-CACC Team, Secreti is a two-time winner of the CACC’s Top XV Award, given to the runner with the highest cumulative grade-point average at the conference championship meet. He was the CACC’s Student-Athlete of the Month in September 2015, and earned a 2015 All-Academic Individual Award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association. Last month, he was inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma College Athlete Honor Society.

Secreti is a psychology major with a cumulative GPA of 3.99. He is a 2013 graduate of Paramus High.

CoSIDA began the distinguished Academic All-America® program in the 1950s and, since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports and across all divisions with these elite scholar-athlete honors. The entire set of 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II Women’s and Men’s Track & Field/Cross-Country teams can be accessed at http://cosida.com/news/2016/6/22/AAA_0622162443.aspx?path=academic_all_america.

Felician University, the Franciscan University of New Jersey, is a liberal arts, coeducational Catholic university founded in 1942 and sponsored by the Felician Sisters. True to its mission, Felician University welcomes a diverse student population and embraces its educational needs. With campuses in Lodi and Rutherford, New Jersey, Felician University currently enrolls more than 2,100 students and offers more than 55 undergraduate and graduate programs, in the classroom and online, in the arts and sciences, business and management sciences, health sciences and teacher education. Felician University also sponsors 14 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level.