WALTHAM, Mass. -- North Dakota State University senior Marc Steckler (Fargo, ND) and St. Cloud State University junior Ryan Koch (Madison, Wisc.) earned top honors on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All–America® men’s track & field and cross country teams announced Tuesday.
Steckler, the University Division Academic All–America of the Year, earned Academic All–America® honors for the third consecutive season. Koch, the College Division Academic All–America of the Year, earned his second nod in 2005. Both athletes will advance to the all sports Academic All–America of the Year ballot
Steckler, who carries a 3.99 grade point average as a mechanical engineering major, earned the unique distinction of earning University Division laurels in his first season of NCAA Division I competition. NDSU is reclassifying from Division II to Division I status. He was a three–time NCAA Division II All–American before winning the Division I independent national title in the pole vault this season.
Koch, a computer science major with a spotless 4.00 grade point average, earned his own rare distinction by taking the top spot on the College Division team despite being only a junior. He becomes the first College Division men’s track & field/cross country student–athlete to earn Academic All–America of the Year recognition as a junior.
A starting wide receiver on the SCSU football team in 2004 and a first team Academic All-America in that sport, he earned his track & field honors as an NCAA Division II All–American in the decathlon this season.
Koch’s achievement is highlighted by the dominance of seniors on both the University and College Division teams. Sixty–six of the 90 honorees this season are seniors or graduate students. Koch was one of only five juniors amongst 30 student–athletes named first team.
Steckler and Koch were among 28 track & field/cross country student–athletes who earned Academic All–America encores in 2004–05. Six of those were named Academic All–America® for the third time. On the College Division team, Nick Johnson (Augustana College) and Sharath Alampur (Rensselaer Poly) became three–time winners. Three–time winners on the University Division team were Ryan Bender (Duquesne), Dirk Homewood (Northern Iowa), Andrew Maloney (St. Francis) and Steckler.
North Dakota State had the rare distinction of having three first-team honorees. In addition to Steckler, they were classmates Andrew Aakre and Jared Essler. In addition to placing Alampur on the third team, RPI had two first-team selections, Joseph Otto and Trevor Tresmette.
Also named to the University Division first team were Nathan Brown (Wisconsin), Adam Davis (Rice), Ty Denby (Virginia Military), Steve Holland (Long Beach State), Todd Mobley (Notre Dame), Jonathan Severy (Colorado), Andrew Sherman (Butler), John Tumbleston (Elon) and Jaanus Uudmae (Arkansas).
The College Division first team also included Nate Beerling (Minnesota-Duluth), Cody Brotherton (McMurry), Nathan Carlson (St. Martin’s), Christopher Clark (Rochester), Mark Heintz (Elmhurst), Matt Molski (New Jersey), Uzoma Orji (MIT), Clint Prange (Northwest Missouri), Basil Steele (Dubuque), Ty Touchstone (Eastern New Mexico) and Mark Zilch (Lewis). Touchstone was the college division Academic All-America of the Year in football last fall.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 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.
ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.85 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or e-mail rlipe@bentley.edu.