PORTLAND, Ore. – Six players from the Montana State University Billings men's track and field team earned academic all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors, announced by the conference office on Thursday.
 
Three of the Yellowjackets selected won the award for the first time in their career while the others were multi-year winners. Seniors Brady Ostermiller and Kaelen Shay earned all-academic honors for the third time and Beau Ackerman repeated as a senior after being selected last season. Juniors Isaiah Girard and Ronald Venema were also selected as well as senior Mason Schram.
 
Ostermiller holds a team high 3.77 grade point average, while completing his degree in Process Plant Technology. The Shepherd, Montana native set an NCAA Division II provisional mark with a team leading shot put throw of 53' 1.75"at the Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Open on March 30. Ostermiller also competes in discus and hammer throw and finished 13^th in the conference in shot put at the GNAC Outdoor Championships. He is one of 13 athletes to be named GNAC all-academic three times.

Shay is a senior from Billings, with a 3.64 GPA in Business Administration: Accounting. Shay was a part of the men's 4x100 relay team that won the GNAC outdoor title over the weekend. Shay also finished sixth in conference in the 100 meter dash and 12^th in the 200 meters after setting a new career best time in his final race of the season.
 
Ackerman, who hails from Glendive, Montana, has a 3.23 GPA in Business Administration: Management. He competed during indoor season in long jump and the 60 meter dash and set personal bests in both events.
 
Girard is an art education major with a 3.21 GPA in his junior season. A Dillon, Montana native, Girard set the MSU Billings high jump school record this spring at 2.08 meters and narrowly missed a chance to go to the NCAA Division II national meet. Girard won the high jump title at the GNAC outdoor championships in Monmouth, Oregon on May 11.
 
Venema is a special education student with a 3.24 GPA from Pinesdale, Montana. After a strong cross country season, Venema ran four different distances during track and field season and finished third in the men's 10,000 meter run at the Montana State Open. He took 19^th place in the same event at the GNAC outdoor championships.
 
Schram is a health and human performance major with specialization in teaching and a Gardiner, Montana native. Schram holds a 3.41 GPA as a junior and ran a leg on the men's 4x100 meter relay team which won the GNAC title in Monmouth, Oregon.
 
Western Washington University led the GNAC with 18 academic all-conference selections. Tyler Jones (Western Oregon University) and Robert Kochis (Concordia University) hold the top GPA's in the conference, with perfect 4.0 marks.
 
MSUB men's track and field concluded its season with competition in the GNAC outdoor championships last weekend and finished eighth among 10 teams.