SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The North Dakota State University men's track & field team led The Summit League by earning seven of the 16 spots on the Academic All-League team announced this week for the 2021 outdoor season.
 
Trevor Otterdahl, Benji Phillips, Tony Ukkelberg, Jacob Rodin, Josh Samyn, Elliott Stone and Alex Talley all earned the honor by virtue of their athletic and academic achievements.
 
Otterdahl (Rosemount, Minn.) earned a degree in mathematics with a 3.96 cumulative GPA, and is now pursuing an MBA with a 4.00 GPA. He was an NCAA West Prelims qualifier in the hammer throw and shot put, and placed second in the hammer and sixth in the shot at the Summit League Championships.
 
Phillips (Glasgow, Mont.) earned first-team All-America honors in the javelin, placing eighth at the NCAA Championships and earning the NCAA Elite 90 Award for owning the highest cumulative GPA – a 4.0 in exercise science and psychology – at the national meet. He also won the Summit League javelin title.
 
Ukkelberg (Clitherall, Minn.) is a pre-med psychology major with a 4.00 GPA. He won his second straight Summit League decathlon title and ranked 42nd in the NCAA for the decathlon this season.
 
Rodin (Kenmare, N.D.) was a Summit League champion in the 4x400m relay and league runner-up in the 800m, and was an NCAA West Prelims qualifier in both events. He owns a 4.0 GPA as an agricultural economics major.
 
Samyn (Winnipeg, Manitoba) has a 3.93 GPA as a biological sciences major. He won the Summit League 1500m title, running 3:47.66 to rank third-fastest in NDSU history.
 
Stone (Bismarck, N.D.) finished his NDSU career ranked fourth all-time at NDSU for the outdoor 5,000m, and he ran a leg on the Bison distance medley relay that clocked the fourth-fastest time in school history at the 2021 Drake Relays. He is a three-time Academic All-American with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's in business administration, with 4.0 cumulative GPAs in both.
 
Talley (West Fargo, N.D.) placed sixth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Championships for first team All-America honors. At the Summit League Championships, he won both the shot put and hammer throw to earn Championships Field MVP. Talley has a 3.47 GPA in civil engineering.
 
To be eligible for The Summit League Academic All-League team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 (on a 4.00 scale), completed at least one full academic year at the current institution and participated in 50 percent of their team's competitions. The award is voted on by the institutions' faculty athletic representatives and sports information directors.