LA MIRADA, Calif. --- On Friday Gabe Plendcio was announced as one of three PacWest Conference men's cross country/track & field student-athletes featured on the 10-person CoSIDA Academic All-District team. It is Plendcio's first career CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, and he becomes the 11th student-athlete in Biola Men's Cross Country/Track & Field history to earn the recognition. He is the first member of the program to earn the honor in this NCAA Division II era.

Plendcio is the fourth Eagle this season to earn Academic All-District recognition, joining Jake Munivez of the Biola Men's Soccer team, Sami Hover of Biola Volleyball and Tori Apodaca of Biola Softball.

The 2020 Academic All-District® Cross Country/Track & Field Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the course and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes cross country/track & field honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Biola is a part of NCAA Division II District 8, which includes the PacWest, California Collegiate Athletic Association and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Plendcio joins Josh Cantong of Azusa Pacific and Rabah Houali of ART U in representing the PacWest with selection.

Plendcio majored in history and logged undergraduate GPA of 3.61 to lead the pack on the course and in the classroom.

The Academic All-District winners are now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-American selection. Biola Men's Cross Country/Track & Field has not earned an Academic All-American selection since Peter Stacy earned the honor in the NAIA back in 2012-13. 

To be eligible for these awards student-athletes must be sophomores or above with a cumulative grade point average over 3.30. The awards are voted on by the members of CoSIDA in the student-athletes' district. The voting takes into account both the GPA and the athletic performance of the individual, which is what makes landing on this list quite prestigious.

Plendcio has had a very decorated career at Biola. He was recently named the Biola Male Student-Athlete of the Year (for the third year running) and was a recipient of the Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award. This season, he won the PacWest Conference individual title in cross country, helped Biola to its second-straight team title, finished top-5 in the west region and lifted the team to the NCAA postseason for the first time.

The Academic All-America cross country/track & field team for NCAA Division II will be announced on June 24.