May 11, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke’s Curtis Beach has been recognized as the 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced today by Commissioner John Swofford. Beach highlights the 2012 All-ACC Academic Men’s Indoor Track & Field Team.

To be eligible for All-ACC Academic Team consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.

A junior studying psychology, Beach set a new conference record en route to winning the national championship in the indoor heptathlon. He scored 6,130 to set the new ACC mark and broke his own world record in the heptathlon 1,000 meters in a time of 2:23.63. For his performance, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) named Beach as the 2012 National Field Athlete of the Year for the indoor season.

At the 2012 ACC Indoor Championship, the Albuquerque, N.M., native took home gold with a total of 5,862 points. He is one of 10 student-athletes that have been placed on the Bowerman watch list, which is awarded to the top male and female track athletes each year. This is the third Indoor All-ACC Academic recognition in his career.

Florida State graduate student Gonzalo Barroilhet was honored with his fifth-career academic honor. Virginia’s Kevin Anding and Wake Forest’s Alex Hill both have been named to the team four times, and Duke’s Beach and Michael Barbas, Maryland’s Zachery Ray, North Carolina’s Parker Smith, and Virginia Tech’s Hasheem Halim and Alexander Ziegler earned their third-career honor.