NEW YORK - Senior distance runner Patrick Tiernan (Toowoomba, Australia) was named Villanova's male winner of a BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Sunkist, in an announcement made by the conference office on Friday morning. The award comes with a $2,000 scholarship which can be applied to graduate or professional studies. This is the second straight year that a men's cross country and track & field student-athlete has been the Wildcats male award winner of a scholar-athlete award.

Twenty student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST's 10 member institutions) were named as BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete award winners in Friday's announcement, with an overall Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year also being announced. The awards are voted on by the BIG EAST Academic Affairs Committee.

Since arriving on campus for the Spring 2013 semester and beginning his collegiate athletic career during the cross country season later that year, Tiernan has epitomized what it takes to be a successful student-athlete. He was selected to both the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team and the BIG EAST All-Academic Team for the 2013-14 academic year. Tiernan was also named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area squad in cross country for both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, including being named the Men's Cross Country Academic All-Area Performer of the Year in 2015.

"This is a very well-deserved award, especially when you consider the combination of Pat's success academically and athletically," Villanova head coach Marcus O'Sullivan said. "Pat is a Mathematics major and he has achieved at the highest level at a school that is known for its academic profile. There are always going to be great athletes and great students, but it is hard to find someone who combines both at the level that Pat does."

Tiernan is a combined six-time All-American and a seven-time BIG EAST champion during his collegiate career, in addition to helping lead Villanova to a Championship of America title in the 4xMile relay at the Penn Relays last season.

Academic and athletic accomplishments throughout a student-athlete's entire career are taken into account for the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. Tiernan quickly made a name for himself on the national level as a cross country freshman in 2013, when he was the BIG EAST individual champion and went on to earn All-America accolades at the NCAA Championships.

He has since repeated as the conference champion in each of the past two seasons to become the first male runner in BIG EAST history to win three straight individual cross country titles. Tiernan is also the third Villanova runner to be a three-time cross country All-American, and his runner-up finish at the 2015 national championships was the Wildcats highest individual finish in more than 40 years. Tiernan was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year following both the 2013 and the 2015 cross country seasons. He is the school record holder at three different cross country distances (four miles, 8000m, 10000m).

During his first collegiate track & field season, Tiernan broke the indoor school record in the 5000 meters with a time of 13:37.73 at the Iowa State Classic. He broke a mark which had stood for more than 30 years and went on to be both the BIG EAST champion and a first team All-American in the event. Tiernan was the BIG EAST individual champion in the 5000 meters again last season.

The outdoor track & field season has been equally successful for Tiernan, who is a two-time qualifier for the NCAA Championships. He was a first team All-American in the 5000 meters in 2014 and a second team honoree last year, in addition to winning consecutive conference titles in the event. Tiernan ran the third leg of the 4xMile relay at the Penn Relays last year and produced a split of 4:01.1 to help the Wildcats win the event with an overall time of 16:18.07.

Tiernan has continued to excel during the current indoor track & field season. In his first race of the year, he posted the nation's leading time in the 3000 meters at the FastTrack National Invite last week. Hs time of 7:48.55 lowered his previous personal best by more than nine seconds and is the second-fastest time in school history. In addition to continuing his collegiate season, Tiernan is also preparing to return to his native Australia to compete in the country's Olympic Trials from March 31-April 3.