SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Clara Paul, Billy Beseman, Montana Belford and Chandler Nelson of the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field/Cross Country Team have been named to the 2020 Academic All-District® VII Track and Field/Cross Country Team, selected by CoSIDA, according to an announcement on Friday (May 29, 2020).

The All-District selections by CoSIDA recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.  Paul, Beseman, Belford and Nelson were selected first-team Academic All-District® and will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. Academic All-America® honorees which will be announced from June 22-25.
 
Paul, a senior from Maplewood, Minn., owns a 3.98 grade point average in mathematics/statistics. A six-time Academic All-NSIC honoree both indoor and outdoor, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from USF in May. She has three top-10 finished as a member of the USF Track and Field Team.

At USF, she graduated in the Honors Program and had an honors thesis, "A Proof on the Projection of Conic Sections." She finished 14^th in the triple jump and 18^th in the long jump at the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships in February, 2020.  The daughter of Marc and Sara Paul, she was 12^th in the triple jump at the outdoor NSIC Championships last March (2019). She has personal bests in the 55 meters of 8.01; 60 meters, 8.60 and 13.83 in the 100 meters while going 17'5.5 in the long jump and 37.4 in the triple jump. Twenty-six times, she finished in the top six in the jumps or sprints for USF and owns three career titles.
 
A senior from Rawlins, Wyo., Belford has a 3.88 grade point average in biology and biologic sciences. The daughter of Robert and Casey Belford, she has been a standout for USF in track and field/cross country with five top-eight finishes. She ranks fifth all-time at USF in the 5K with a clocking of 18:30.23.

Last fall (2019) she finished 20^th individually and led the USF Women's Cross Country Team to an eighth place finish at the NSIC Championships. The 20^th place finish earned her second team All-NSIC honors. A team captain, she later finished 54^th at the NCAA DII Central Region Championship as USF was 16th as a team. Belford has received the prestigious NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award, was an eight-time Academic All-NSIC honoree and named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence four times.  
 
Beseman, the son of Bob and Karen Beseman, graduated in May, 2020 with a business Master of Business Administration degree. A native of Perham, Minn., he is a two-time All-American (DMR, 2018, 2019). This is his second straight selection to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Teams as selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).

In 2019, Beseman earned first team All-American honors at NCAA DII Indoor Nationals in 2019 as USF set school record of 9:48.74. He was also part of USF's first team All-American Distance Medley Relay (8th place) at the 2018 NCAA DII Indoor Championships as that team finished in 9:55.01. In total, he has earned eight Academic All-NSIC honors in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. Four times, he has been selected to the All-NSIC Academic Team of Excellence.

At USF, he has five top-five rankings on ranking second in 1,000 meters with 2:26.96 in 2019; fifth in 800-meters in 1:54.96 in 2019 and first in distance medley relay with school record 9:48.34 in 2019 at DII indoor nationals. He owns the second best 800-meters time outdoors with a 1:52.53 clocking with the fourth-ranked 1,500 meters of 3:50.29 in 2019. Beseman helped lead USF to its first ever NSIC Cross Country Championships in 2018 and part of the team that was fifth at the NCAA DII nationals, which was an all-time program best. In the 10K at the 2019 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships he ran a 31:52.2 for a 133rd place finish, this was also his fastest 10K of his career. At the 2019 NSIC Championships, Beseman, who was a team captain, placed 49th with a time of 27:43.3. At the 2020 NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships, Beseman was a member of the winning DMR and was also second in the 1,000 meters in 2:29.22, a title he won at the 2019 NSIC Indoor Championships. He was also on the eighth-place 4x400 meter relay. In his career, he has 12 individual or team titles and finished in the top six in cross country or track and field 42 times. Three times, he has been on the winning DMR team at the NSIC Championships.
 
Nelson of Mitchell, S.D., has a 3.97 grade point average of business administration and marketing. He earned Academic All-NSIC honors indoors and outdoors this year and has six total in his career. Four times, he has been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence (3.6 GPA or honor).
 
Nelson, who is the son of Mark and Shannon Nelson, has four top-10 rankings in throwing events at USF. He sits in the top 10 at USF in both the indoor shot put (52-3.75) and the weight throw of 56-7.5. He is fifth in the outdoor shot put with a throw of 51-6.50 in 2019. A year ago, he moved into third all-time in the discus with a throw of 163'4.75.  At the 2020 NSIC Indoor Meet, he placed third in the shot put with a personal-best of 52-3.75 and was ninth in the weight throw with a toss to 55-10.5.

Thirty-five times, he has placed in the top six in throwing events indoors and outdoors. On six occasions, he has placed third in throwing events. Four times, Nelson has finished in the top eight at the NSIC Indoor or Outdoor Championships.