STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford senior Landon Alecxih has been named the 2016 Pac-12 Men’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference announced. The award honors collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Alecxih, who rows in the second varsity eight for the Cardinal, owns a 4.013 cumulative grade-point average as a Economics major at Stanford. He earned Pac-12 and Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) All-Academic honors last season. Alecxih studied at UCLA for two years, before transferring to Stanford prior to last season. Through one of his economics classes at Stanford, Alecxih was selected by his professor to join a small group of students that traveled to Ghana in 2015 where they studied the effects of educational experiences long term in several villages in Africa.
Alecxih helped guide Stanford’s second varsity eight to a Bronze medal at the Pac-12 Championships this past Sunday. He also rowed in the varsity four for the Cardinal at the 2015 IRA Championships, helping his crew win a Bronze medal in the national regatta.
Alecxih is the third straight Stanford men’s rower to be named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Kaess Smit was honored in 2015 and Austin Hack was honored in 2014. Alecxih is the fifth Cardinal to be named the conference’s Men’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year since the honor since its establishment in 2007-08. Along with Smit and Hack, Alex Syverson (2011) and Mark Murphy (2009) were also honored.
Alecxih is the seventh Stanford student-athlete to be named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete in their sport this academic year, joining Justin Brinkley (men's track and field), Jordan Burgess (women's volleyball), Aisling Cuffe (women’s cross country), Lauren Kim (women’s golf), Gray Umbach (men’s swimming and diving) and Brandon Vincent (men’s soccer).
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.