ALLENDALE, MICH. – Four Grand Valley State track and field athletes were named to the 2022-2023 Academic All-America team, selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) on Thursday, June 29^th.  
 
The Laker men were awarded with three honorees, Myles Kerner, Jackson Blanchard and Scott Spaanstra, while Natalie Graber was awarded on the women's side. Kerner was named to the First-Team Academic All-America team after earning a 3.7 GPA while pursuing his degree in Business Economics. Kerner ended his 2022-2023 track and field season as the Division II Indoor National Champion in the men's shot put and finished third at the Division II Outdoor Nationals. 
 
Graduate student, Jackson Blanchard was named to the Second-Team Academic All-America team after earning a 3.7 GPA while pursuing his degree in Education/Health & Physical Education Teaching. Scott Spaanstra was the final Laker on the men's side to be named to the Third-Team All-America team finishing with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 in Sport Management. All three Laker men were apart of the third-place finishing team at the 2023 Division II Indoor Nationals as well as the fourth-place finishing team at the Division II Outdoor Nationals. 
 
Natalie Graber was named to the Third-Team Academic All-America team after earning a 3.9 GPA while pursuing her degree in Exercise Science. Graber ended the 2022-2023 track and field season as a 4x All-American, finishing within the Top 8 in each event at both the indoor and outdoor Division II Nationals. In addition, Graber earned an individual National Champion title in the women's DMR at the 2023 Division II National Championships.