EUGENE, Ore. – Graduate transfer Aaron Bienenfeld has been named the 2022 Pac-12 Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The honor was announced Friday morning before the Pac-12 Championship in Riverside, Calif.
Bienenfeld maintains a 4.00 cumulative grade point average (GPA) in his graduate studies in nonprofit management, and becomes the fourth UO man to earn Scholar-Athlete honors in the conference. He joins Galen Rupp (2008), Sam Prakel (2017) and Matt Wisner (2021) on the short list.
The 2022 Pac-12 Championship will air on the Pac-12 Network at 8:30 a.m. (PT). The women’s 6K will start at 8:40 a.m. followed by the men’s 8,000 meters at 9:40 a.m.
Preview: The Ducks’ postseason begins Friday at Riverside
At last year’s conference meet, Bienenfeld secured a spot on the Pac-12 First Team with a fifth-place finish. He went on to earn USTFCCCA All-America honors, finishing 18thth overall at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Frankfurt, Germany native won in his season debut at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (Sept. 23) and was 24th at the Nuttycombe Invitational two weeks ago in Madison, Wis. Bienenfeld was a three-time NCAA qualifier in track last season and ran to a bronze finish over 10,000 meters at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships at Hayward Field.
Emily Venters of Utah was the women’s scholar-athlete recipient. The two will be recognized after the meeting as part of the awards ceremony.
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