SEARCY – Harding seniors Lucas Goodspeed and Lawson Belcher are used to running together. Both finished in the top five at the Great American Conference Cross-Country Championship. Both finished in the top five in the 10,000 meters at the GAC Track and Field Championship. Wednesday, both earned Google Cloud Academic All-America honors. Goodspeed was on the first team, and Belcher was a second-team honoree.
Goodspeed won the 10,000 meters at the GAC track meet and placed third at the GAC cross-country meet. The Academic All-America honor was his fourth, tying a Harding record. He became the first Harding student-athlete ever to earn three first-team Academic All-America awards.
A native of Sugar Land, Texas, Goodspeed was a third-team honoree in 2015 and earned first-team honors in 2016 and 2017. Jonathan Dandy also a cross-country and track athlete earned four Academic All-America awards in 1997 and 1998.
Goodspeed earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree on May 12, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.00 GPA as a double major in accounting and finance.
Belcher, a Keller, Texas, native, earned his second consecutive Academic All-America honor. He was fourth at the GAC Cross-Country Championship and fourth in the 10,000 meters at the conference outdoor track championship.
Belcher also graduated in May, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He garnered summa cum laude laurels with a 3.95 GPA in graphic design.
With Goodspeed and Belcher's awards, Harding men's cross-country and track has had at least one Academic All-American every year since 2014 and has had multiple honorees each of the last four years.