Norton caps cross country career with national honor

Recent Brandeis University graduate Paul Norton of Amherst, Mass., has been named a third-team Capital One Academic All-America selection in cross country and track and field, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA).

Norton was a first-team Academic All-District selection earlier this month. A team captain in both track and cross country, he graduated summa cum laude with highest honors with degrees in music and economics. Norton, who earned Brandeis's Harry, Joseph and Ida Stein Award as the outstanding senior male athlete, led the cross country team to three consecutive berths in the NCAA championships, earning All-America honors as a junior when he finished seventh in the field of 276 runners. In 2010, Norton guided the Judges to a 16th-place finish, their highest since 1998. He was a two-time UAA Champion during the indoor track and field season, winning the 3,000 meters as a junior - when he earned Most Outstanding Performer at the UAA championship meet - and in 5,000 as a senior. Overall, Norton is a seven-time All-UAA performer overall and four-time All-New England Division III and four-time All-New England All-Division performer.

Norton was named to the Academic All-UAA team nine times, Brandeis's dean's list eight times and to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches (UTSFCCCA) All-Academic team seven times in his career. He earned Brandeis's David M. Greene and Florence and Charles H. Milender prizes for music, and has had summer positions as a research intern for health care at the Massachusetts State House in 2010 and the KIMbia foundation and Kenya Scholar Athlete project in Kenya in 2009.

Norton is Brandeis's second Capital One Academic All-American this season, joining softball junior Marianne Specker of South Windsor, Conn.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

Norton is a 2007 graduate of Amherst Regional High School. He is the son of David and Claire Norton, Amherst, Mass.

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