College Sports Information Directors of America

ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America  Team
Selected by CoSIDA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  August 16, 2006
Contact:  Dick Lipe, Bentley, 781-891-2334 or rlipe@bentley.edu


        WALTHAM, Mass. Soccer All-American Christine Sinclair of the University of Portland and football standout Josh Lamberson of Northwest Missouri State University have been selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as the 2005-06 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americas of the Year.

        CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine combine to sponsor 24 Academic All-America programs on the University (NCAA Div. I) and College (NCAA Div. II, III and NAIA) levels.  For each program, an Academic All-America of the Year is selected.  Sinclair and Lamberson were selected from a ballot that included each programs Academic All-America of the Year.

        Sinclair ran away with the University Division award, compiling 194 points in the voting system.  A total of 50 of the 84 voters ranked her among their top three selections, including 31 first-place votes, more than double the total of the other 11 candidates.

        Oklahoma State golfer Zack Robinson finished second in the University Division balloting, while West Virginia mens basketball player Johannes Herber (91 points), Brown football all-star Nick Hartigan (67) and Florida State national champion shot putter Garrett Johnson (66) rounded out the top five.

        Sinclair, originally from Burnaby, British Columbia, was selected as the National Player of the Year by several college womens soccer organizations, including the Missouri Athletic Club, which presents the Hermann Trophy.  She was also the Honda Broderick Cup winner as the Collegiate Womens Athlete of the Year.   She was among the top 24 players considered for the 2005 FIFA Player of the Year award.

        A three-time Academic All-America, Sinclair broke the NCAA record for single-season goals (37).  Her 110 career goals ranks second in NCAA history and 252 points is fourth in the national books.  She also set the NCAA records for scoring a goal in 17 consecutive games and 25 post-season scores.

        It is a tremendous honor to be given this award. My success in the classroom is as important to me as my performance on the playing field, said Sinclair. This is as much a testament to the University of Portland and how it has prepared and molded me into who I am as a person, as it is an individual honor. Professors, administrators and athletic personnel continually teach the importance of a well-rounded individual, and Im proud to represent the school and bring such recognition to the university.

        In the College Division, Lamberson collected 26 first-place votes from 43 voters on the way to compiling 161 points.  He edged Tammy Leane, a national championship womens swimmer from West Chester (Pa.) University, for top honors.  

        Leane finished second with 150 points, including 18 first-place votes, followed by NCAA Division III shotput champ Uzoma Orji of MIT (95 points), the University of Minnesota-Deluth womens basketball All-American Lindsay Deitz (79) and Wartburg College softball standout Cari Kinzenbaw (58).

        Lamberson, originally from Wilber, Neb., returned from a potential career-ending hip injury in 2004 to lead his team to an 11-4 overall record, breaking numerous Northwest Missouri State and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) records in the process.  A two-time first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America, Lamberson compiled a 24-6 overall record as a starter.

        Lamberson, who helped the Bearcats to the Division II national championship game last December and was the games MVP after throwing for 326 yards, finished his career number one in the programs history in completions (575), total offense (8,064) and completion percentage (.659).

        It is definitely a great honor to win this award and it is a testament to hard work, dedication, and perseverance, said Lamberson. Academics have always been a priority in my life and i want to thank my family, the NWMSU football program and NWMSU for the great opportunity to succeed in the classroom and the athletic arena.

        The Academic All-America of the Year honor, which began in 1987-88, is awarded to the most outstanding student-athlete of the year and is chosen from the student-athletes who have been awarded Team Member of the Year honors. From over 360,000 student-athletes in the nation, just 816 are selected as Academic All-America Team members each year, twenty-four are selected as Team Members of the Year and two are named Academic All-America of the Year.

        "With nearly 12,000 student athletes being nominated for Academic All-America each year, and considering the number of athletes completing in intercollegiate sports, to reach the epitome of what it means to be a successful student-athlete and be selected as the best of the best is quite an amazing achievement," said Bentley College's Dick Lipe, CoSIDA Academic All-America chair.

        Former recipients of Academic All-America of the Year honors include Rebecca Lobo (1994-95), Peyton Manning (1997-98), Chad Pennington (1999-00), Stacey Dales-Schuman (2001-02) and Emeka Okafor (2003-04)  A full list of the previous recipients of the AAA of the Year award follows.

        ESPN The Magazine winner of the 2006 and 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 1.9 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. 



Year        Name        School        Sport
2005-06        Christine Sinclair        Portland        Womens Soccer
        Josh Lamberson        Northwest Missouri State        Football
2004-05        Alex Smith        Utah        Football
        Carli Dale        Juniata        Volleyball
2003-04        Emeka Okafor        Connecticut        Basketball
        Kristen Shields        Whitworth        Track & Field
2002-03        Theresa Kulikowski        Utah        Gymnastics
        Ashley Rowatt        Kenyon        Swimming
2001-02        Stacey Dales-Schuman        Oklahoma        Basketball
        T.J. Hess        Widener        Football
2000-01        Ruth Riley        Notre Dame        Basketball
        Emily Bloss        Emporia State        Basketball
1999-00        Chad Pennington        Marshall        Football
        Korey Coon        Illinois Wesleyan        Basketball
1998-99        Matt Stinchcomb        Georgia        Football
        Kelly Schade        Simpson        Softball
1997-98        Peyton Manning        Tennessee        Football
        Brad Gray        MIT        Football
1996-97        Danny Wuerffel        Florida        Football
        Julie Roe        Millikin        Basketball
1995-96*        Todd Fuller        North Carolina St.        Basketball
        Chris Palmer        St. John's (MN)        Football
1994-95        Rebecca Lobo        Connecticut        Basketball
(tie)        Rob Zatechka        Nebraska        Football
1993-94        Carl Erikson        Oberlin        Tennis
1992-93        Jim Hansen        Colorado        Football
1991-92        Tommy Vardell        Stanford        Football
1990-91        Al Parker        Georgia        Tennis
1989-90        Alec Kessler        Georgia        Basketball
1988-89        James Martin        Penn St.        Wrestling
1987-88        Michael Smith        Brigham Young        Basketball


* From 1988-1995 only one winner was chosen per year. Beginning in 1996 the format was changed to select one winner per year in each division (college and university).