College Sports Information Directors of America

WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior midfielder Matt Groenwald of St. John's University and senior forward Patrick McGinnis of Colorado College, each of whom led their team into the NCAA tournament, head the 2004 ESPN Academic All-America® Men's Soccer Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
        Groenwald, who hails from Mt. Prospect, Ill., becomes the second straight St. John's player to earn Academic All-America of the Year in the university division, following in the footsteps of 2003 honoree Chris Wingert. Groenwald, who helped St. John's to an 11th seed in the Division I tournament, is a repeat selection on the Academic All-America first team and was a preseason nominee for the Hermann Trophy as the top college soccer player in the country.
        In the classroom, Groenwald has compiled a 3.79 grade point average as a biology major and has earned membership in the University's prestigious President's Society, the highest academic honor for a student at St. John's.
        McGinnis, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo. who carries a 3.61 grade point average as a philosophy major, was selected as the Academic All-America of the Year in the college division. He leads the NCAA (all divisions) in scoring, and finished with 39 goals for the 16-4-1 Tigers. McGinnis had eight hat tricks this season and a total of 86 points, an average of 4.3 a game.        
        McGinnis is one of three repeat first-team selections, a distinction he shares with senior midfielder Jonathan Hemmert of Bucknell and Joel Veldhouse of Calvin College.
        The University Division first team includes two players from once-beaten University of New Mexico, the number 13 seed in the NCAA Division I tournament. They are senior midfielder Eric Carlson and junior forward Jeff Rowland. In addition, New Mexico junior defender Ben Ashwill was selected for the second team.
        The College Division first team includes Salisbury junior midfielder Chris Tracy, the owner of a perfect 4.0 GPA as a business finance and economics major. The Gulls, 20-0-3, are in the NCAA Division III national semifinals and will be playing Messiah on Friday.
        The average GPA of the 22 first-team selections was an impressive 3.87.
        The Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom.  Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
        To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing 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 Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
        For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please email rlipe@bentley.edu.

Pos.        Name        School        Yr.        Hometown        GPA/Major(s)
GK        Mike Tortora         Lafayette         Jr.        Willington, Conn.         3.94 Economics & Business
D        David Ledet        LIU-Brooklyn        Sr.        New Orleans, La.         3.88 Political Science & English
D         Guy Melamed         Boston College         Sr.         Nofit, Israel         3.589 Accounting
D         Matt Niemeyer         Michigan         Sr.         St. Louis, Mo.         3.91 Mechanical Engineering (Pre-Med)
D         Ryan Rzepka         Oakland         Sr.         Novi, Mich.         3.898 Accounting
MF         Eric Carlson         New Mexico         Sr.         Albuquerque, N.M.         3.92 Financial Management
MF         Matt Groenwald         St. John's         Sr.         Mt. Prospect, Ill.         3.79 Biology
MF         Jonathan Hemmert         Bucknell         Sr.        Westerville, Ohio         3.91 Political Science
F         Christian Bowers         Denver         Sr.        Holladay, Utah         3.99 Biology & Spanish
F         Antou Jallow         UW-Milwaukee         Sr.         Uppsula, Sweden         3.83 Marketing
F         Jeff Rowland         New Mexico         Jr.         Albuquerque, N.M.         3.79 Accounting

Pos.        Name        School        Yr.        Hometown        GPA/Major(s)
GK         Dean Arnaoutakis         Columbia         Sr.        Dunedin, Fla.         3.98 Pre-Med
D         Ben Ashwill         New Mexico         Jr.         Albuquerque, N.M.         3.78 Management
D         Luke Kitchen         SUNY College-Oneonta         Sr.         Stroud, England         3.87 Business Economics
D         Noah Salsi         Duquesne         Jr.         North Huntingdon, Pa.         3.92 Physician Assistant
D         Matt Wootton         New Mexico         Jr.         Colleyville, Tex.         3.83 Human Resource Management
MF         Adam Ben-Zikri         UW-Green Bay         Jr.         Monona, Wis.         3.92 Business Administration
MF         Steven Wacker         Temple         Sr.        Philadelphia, Pa.         3.89 Kinesiology
MF         Matt Wiley         Tulsa         Jr.         Carrollton, Tex.         4.00 Philosophy & Science
F         Ablaye Camara         Detroit Mercy         Sr.         Conakry, Guinea         3.783 Economics
F         Alon Lubezky         Hartford         Sr.         Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel         3.52 Economics & Finance
F         Jason Garey         Maryland         Jr.         Gonzalez, La.         3.388 Finance

Pos.        Name        School        Yr.        Hometown        GPA/Major(s)
GK         Chris Eylander         Washington         Jr.         Sumner, Wash.         3.58 Engineering
D         Matt Haney         Delaware         So.        Newark, Del.         4.00 Biology
D         Chris Raye         South Florida         Sr.         Manatee, Fla.         3.95 Psychology
D         Jonathan Young         California Polytechnic         Sr.         Carlsbad, Calif.         3.91 Business Administration
D         Adam Zenor         Drake         Sr.         Cedar Rapids, Iowa         3.69 Pre-Law
MF         Doug Lascody         Southwest Missouri St.         Sr.        Springfield, Ill.         3.64 Accounting
MF         Dominic Mediate         Maryland         Sr.        Southlake, Tex.         3.476 Kinesiological Science
MF         Danny O'Rourke         Indiana         Sr.         Columbus, Ohio         3.47 Biochemistry
MF         Tye Stebbins         Dayton         Sr.         Zionsville, Ind.         3.884 International Business
F         Patrick Colas         Radford         Jr.         Rennes, France         4.00 Economics
F         Charles Darkwah         Binghamton         Sr.         Toronto, Ont.         3.64 Human Development
F         Will Weatherly         Santa Clara         Sr.         Bellevue, Wash.         3.65 Accounting

Pos.        Name        School        Yr.        Hometown        GPA/Major(s)
F        Eric Henderson        Luther College        Sr.        Clive, Iowa        3.96, Physics
F        Patrick McGinnis        Colorado College        Sr.        Colorado Springs, Colo.        3.61, Philosophy
F        Justin Risma        Wheaton (IL)        Jr.        Rochester, Minn.        3.98, Kinesiology (pre med)
M        Matthew Davey        UC San Diego        Jr.          Laguna Niguel, Calif        3.91, Bio-Engineering
M        Chris Tracy        Salisbury         Jr.        Pittsburgh, Pa.        4.0, Business Finance, Econ.
M        Joel Veldhouse        Calvin College         Sr.        Sioux Falls, S.D.        3.79, Biochemistry
D        Blake Barlow        Central Arkansas        Sr.         Tulsa, Okla.        3.94, Business Administration
D        Kevin McCarthy        Emory        Sr.        St. Louis, Mo.        3.82, Biology
D        Jeremiah Reinkoester        Luther College        Sr.        Independence, Iowa        3.89, Math
D        Scott Schwartz        Trinity University        Sr.        San Antonio, Texas        3.988, Computer Science
G        Colin Robinson        Washington Univ.         Sr.        Brookfield, Conn.        3.80, Biology

Pos.        Name        School        Yr.        Hometown        GPA/Major(s)
F        Jason Ashurst        Cal Bakersfield        Sr.        Bakersfield, Calif.        4.00, Mathematics
F        Lubomir Bogdanov        Incarnate Word        Jr.        Sophia, Bulgaria                   3.70, Mathematics
F        Nathan Micklos        Univ. of Rochester         Jr.        Palatine, Ill.        3.8,Political Science & History
M        Joel Colto        Coast Guard              Sr.        San Diego, Calif.        3.94,Civil Engineering
M        Kyle Frohock        Carson-Newman         Sr.        Franklin, Tenn.        3.86,  Management
M        Plamen Peey        USC Aiken        Sr.           Karlovo, Bulgaria                     3.98, Business Administration
D        Chris Carroll        Hardin-Simmons         Sr.         Singapore        3.948, Communications
D        Richard Mahon        Heidelberg College        Sr.        North Olmsted, Ohio        4.0, Chemistry/ Pre-Med
D        Garrett Silvert-Noftle        Ohio Wesleyan        Sr.        Yellow Springs, Ohio        3.74, Pre-Med, Philosophy
D        Michael Wright        Presbyterian        Sr.             Surfside Beach, S.C.        4.00, History/Political Science
G        Jason Delozier        Widener University        Sr.        Aston, Pa.        3.977, Accounting

Pos.        Name        School        Yr.        Hometown        GPA/Major(s)
F        Karl Dix        Emory        Jr            Snellville, Ga.        3.75, Accounting/Psychology
F        Ricky Klotz        Hobart                 Sr        Cortland, N.Y.        3.746, Economics
F        Josh Ottinger        Stevens Tech.        Sr.        Schnecksville, Pa.        3.427, Mechanical Engin.
M        Edward Sellitto        Rensselaer         Jr.        Hauppauge, N.Y.        4.0, Chemical Engineering
M        Will Stelzer        Concordia (IL)        Sr.        Selden, N.Y.         4.00, Pre-Seminary
M        David Tintera        Pitt-Greensburg        Sr.        Harrison City, Pa.        3.46, Applied Mathematics
D        Jared Atwood        Truman State         Jr.        Lee's Summit, Mo.        3.82, Biology/Pre-Dental
D        Dan Butz        Edgewood        Sr.        DePere, Wisc.         4.0, Biology
D        Jeffrey Petrie        Rollins        Sr.        Pensacola, Fla.        3.82, Biology
D        Cory Thigpen        Ohio Northern        Jr.        Three Rivers, Mich.        4.0, Criminal Justice,Spanish
G        Kyle Wunderlich        Urbana University        Sr.        Cincinnati, Ohio        4.0, Accounting