ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana landed a pair of athletes on the 2016 CoSIDA Men's Track & Field Academic All-America Team, it was announced today. Junior Isaac Smith (Marion HS, Marion, Iowa) was named to the second team and senior Dan Popek (Minooka HS, Minooka, Ill.) landed a third team spot.
 
Popek broke the school record in the 800 with a time of 1:51.24 which he recorded while winning the event in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championships on Saturday, May 7. A week later at the North Central College Dr. Keeler Qualifier meet, he broke his own mark with a time of 1:50.50. He was also a member of the 4x400 relay team that won the CCIW title in a meet record of 3:12.84.
 
Popek earned NCAA Division III All-America honors in the 4x400 relay twice during his career, most recently in the 2016 indoor national meet when the Vikings were second. He was also on the second place 4x400 relay team in the 2014 indoor national meet. He won the CCIW indoor 800 in 2014 and he finished his career with six top-three finishes in the 800 (indoor & outdoor combined) in the 800.
 
An NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship nominee, Popek was the winner of the Jack Swartz Award in the CCIW after the 2016 winter sports season. The son of John and Nancy Popek of Minooka, Illinois, Dan graduated from Augustana on May 22 with a 3.58 grade point average and majors in biology and neuroscience.
 
He was the team captain in both track & field and cross country. He was the winner of the Augustana biology department's scholarship competition and also served an internship as part of Augie Acres in the summer of 2015. He did field research in the cold hardiness of Tiger Beetles.
 
Smith is a six-time NCAA Division III All-American, including being a member of Augustana's 4x400 NCAA Division III national championship relay team in the indoor season of 2015. He is the school record holder in both the 4x400 and 4x200 relays, both indoors and outdoors. During the 2016 indoor season he was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the CCIW Indoor Championships when he helped lead the Vikings to their first ever indoor league title. He won the 200 and the 4x400 relay in that meet and placed second in the 400.
 
As a freshman he earned individual All-America honors when he placed fifth in the open 400 at the outdoor national meet. He was ninth in the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in the 400 this past winter. During the 2016 outdoor CCIW meet he was second in the 400, fourth in the 200 and anchored the Vikings to a meet record in the 4xx400 relay that clinched the team title.
 
Isaac is the son of Andrew and Kim Smith of Marion, Iowa and he has a 3.45 grade point average while majoring in chemistry. He is a member of the Augustana Chemical Society where he serves at secretary and he has also done guided research.
 
Augustana currently ranks seventh in the nation (all divisions) in number of Academic All-Americans produced all-time with 163. The Vikings are third in NCAA Division III behind M.I.T. and Emory. Augustana currently leads the nation in number of men's track & field Academic All-Americans produced with 28.