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ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® University and College Division Teams (.pdf)TOWSON, Md. -- Senior goalkeeper Zack Simmons of the University of Massachusetts and junior defender Jonathan Hall of Carnegie Mellon head the 2008
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men’s Soccer Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Simmons and Hall have been named as the Academic All-America of the Year in the University and College Divisions, respectively.
Simmons, a first-time Academic All-America® selection, is a three-time Academic All-District 1 pick. He has been selected as the Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the Atlantic-10 Conference twice and has been on the Academic All-Conference Team three times.
A native of Durham, N.H., Simmons is a History and Economics major with a 3.99 Grade Point Average. He started all 18 games this fall for the Minutemen and posted a 0.80 GAA while registering six shutouts. Simmons led the UMass to its second straight NCAA College Cup appearance.
As a senior, he was a preseason All-American after earning the UMBRO/Soccer News Net National Player of the Year award in 2007. In 2007, he was a NSCAA third team All-American and led UMass to the NCAA College Cup semi-finals. The school record holder with 29 career shutouts, Simmons was named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team after an outstanding performance during championship weekend.
Of the 12 student-athletes to be named to the University Division first team, four have earned Academic All-America® notice in the past. Senior defender Mike Gelatt of Liberty University was named to the first team for the second consecutive year. Senior Daniel Kerley of Colgate and junior Simon Ejdemyr of New Mexico were third team selections in 2007 while graduate student Ryan Badaracco of Penn State was a third team selection in 2006.
Gelatt, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., started all 18 games on defense for the Flames, scoring one goal with one assist. He helped Liberty finish the season with a 10-5-3 record. Named to the Big South All-Conference first team for the second time, Gelatt is a Kinesiology major with minors in Business and Chemistry and has a G.P.A. of 3.83.
A native of Leawood, Kan., Kerley has a G.P.A. of 3.83 while majoring in Economics. He started 19 games on defense and had one assist for the Raiders, who won the Patriot League championship with a 12-5-3 record and earned an NCAA Tournament berth this season. Kerley is a member of Colgate’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the Omicron Delta Epsilon Honor Society.
Ejdemyr is a Political Science major with a minor in Communications and a 4.12 G.P.A. He started 15 games for the Lobos as a senior and contributed five goals with one assist. A solid defender, he scored two game-winners in 2008. A Boras, Sweden native, Ejdemyr is a two-time All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Star.
A native of Wexford, Pa., Badaracco has a 3.92 GPA as a first semester graduate student majoring in Finance. A starter in all 19 games at midfield for the Nittany Lions, he was honored this fall for the second time in his career as the recipient of the Big 10 Sportsmanship Award for men’s soccer.
The rest of the Academic All-America® first team includes three seniors and four juniors. The seniors are defender Matt Besler of Notre Dame, defender Connor Tobin of Vermont, and forward Doug DeMartin of Michigan State. The list of juniors include midfielder Josh Bienenfeld of Duke, midfielder J.T. Noone of Temple, forward Zak Boggs of South Florida and forward Zack Schilawski of Wake Forest.
Besler, a Psychology & Pre-Professional Studies major with a 3.46 G.P.A., started all 20 games for the Irish, who earned their eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance with a 12-6-2 record. The Overland Park, Kan. native scored one goal with one assist as a defender. He was also named to the All-BIG EAST team for the third time, earning first team notice in 2008 after two consecutive appearances on the second team.
Besler, a Psychology & Pre-Professional Studies major with a 3.46 G.P.A., started all 20 games for the Irish, who earned their eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance with a 12-6-2 record. The Overland Park, Kan. native scored one goal with one assist as a defender. He was also named to the All-BIG EAST team for the third time, earning first team notice in 2008 after two consecutive appearances on the second team.
Honored as the America East Defender of the Year, Tobin has started 20 games for the Catamounts. He helped Vermont post a 9-4-7 record as a senior while leading a defense that allowed 0.71 goals per game. He was named first team all-conference for the second year in a row. A Mechanical Engineering major with a 3.74 G.P.A., he was also selected to the America East All-Academic men’s soccer team. The Fort Collins, Col. native is a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award.
Selected as the Big 10 Conference Player of the Year, DeMartin has scored 17 goals while leading the Spartans to the Big 10 title and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2008. The Mason, Mich. native is a three-time Academic All-Big 10 honoree and has 38 goals in 75 career games.
A Psychology major with a 3.94 G.P.A., Bienenfeld is a native of Huntington Valley, Pa. with a minor in Markets and Management. He started all 18 games for the Blue Devils and scored one goal while helping Duke to a 10-6-2 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. Named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman Team, he helped Duke earn an NCAA tournament berth.
A 3.88 Economics major, Noone was the leading scorer for Temple as a senior with seven goals and 12 assists. He helped the Owls advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament with a record of 10-5-4. Noone was named to the A-10 first team in 2008 after leading the conference in assists. A native of Harrisburg, Pa., he was a 2007 Academic All-Conference pick.
A Biomedical Sciences major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., Boggs helped South Florida win the BIG EAST championship and an NCAA tournament berth. The Bulls’ second-leading scorer with three goals and four assists, he led USF to a 14-4-2 record and the number eight seed for the NCAA College Cup. A third team all-conference selection, the Vienna, W.Va. native is a member of the National Scholars Honor Society and is an academic tutor in the subject areas of Economics, Biology, Algebra, Calculus and Chemistry.
A Biology major with a 3.65 G.P.A., Schilawski is the fourth-leading scorer for Wake Forest with eight goals and four assists. A native of Cary, N.C., he has helped the number one-ranked Demon Deacons to an 18-1-1 record and the top seed for the NCAA College Cup. As a sophomore, Schilawski scored the game-winning goal against Ohio State in the national championship game, lifting Wake Forest to the 2007 national title.
The overall G.P.A. of the Academic All-America® University Division first team averages out to 3.86.
Named as the College Division Academic All-America® of the Year, Hall is a Business Administration and Finance major with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
A starter on defense in all 19 games for the Tartans, Hall led Carnegie Mellon to a 15-3-1 record and the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. He anchored a defensive unit that recorded 10 shutouts while allowing 0.78 goals per game. The Tartans’ team captain, he earned All-University Athletic Association honors twice and was named All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection.
While Hall is a first time selection as an Academic All-America® first team pick, graduate student James Hayers of Lynn University made the first team for the second time. In addition, senior midfielder Benjamin Gilde of Worcester Polytechnic Institute was a third team pick in 2006 and a second team selection last year.
Hayers was one of two members of Lynn University to earn Academic All-America® first team notice. Senior Lee Porter was also honored as a first team defender.
Hayers and Porter were also selected as All-Sunshine State Conference first team performers as well as being named to the 2008 Daktronics All-South Region first team. The two defenders led the Fighting Knights to the Sunshine State Conference championship and a number one ranking in NCAA Division II. Lynn finished the season with an 18-2 record after being upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
A native of Cardiff, Wales, Hayers scored one goal and had seven assists for the Fighting Knights. A Business Administration major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., he helped the Lynn defense hold opponents to 18 goals in 20 games. An International Communications major with a 3.80 G.P.A., Porter was the team’s third-leading scorer. The Repton, England native scored 11 goals with five assists.
An Actuarial Mathematics major with a minor in Management and Entrepreneurship, Gilde has a 3.91 G.P.A. The Manchester, N.H. native was selected to the NEWMAC All-Conference Team for the third straight year while also being selected to the NEWMAC All-Academic Team for this fall. He finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with six goals and two assists.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology led all schools with three selections to the Academic All-America ® first team. Senior goalkeeper Tom Caldwell, senior midfielder Neil Zimmerman and sophomore forward Christian Therkelsen represented MIT on the Academic All-America® first team.
The MIT trio led the Engineers to its second-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance this season as the team finished 16-4-2. All three were named to the NEWMAC All-Academic Team.
A Physics major with a 3.70 G.P.A., Caldwell was the starting goalkeeper in 19 games for MIT. A second team All-NEWWMAC selection, he had a 0.86 GAA with nine shutouts. The East Berlin, Pa. native is also a member of the MIT gymnastics team.
A native of Nesbru, Norway, Therkelsen was the leading scorer for MIT with 16 goals and eight assists. A first team All-NEWMAC selection, he has a double major of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. He has been involved in developing auto traffic simulation models that are being used by the N.Y. State Department of Transportation and the Beijing Transportation Research Center.
A Biological Engineering major with a 3.80 G.P.A., Zimmerman was the Engineers’ team captain this season. A native of Dallas, Texas, he scored three goals with seven assists. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, MIT Biomedical Engineering Society and the MIT Wind Ensemble.
Senior Zeyad Schwen of Case Western Reserve joined Hall, Hayers and Porter as the defenders on the Academic All-America® first team. A Biomedical Engineering major with a 3.77 G.P.A., Schwen anchored a defense that recorded ten shutouts this season. A four-time All-UAA selection, he led the Spartans to a 13-5-1 record. Senior John Cremer of St. Norbert is the third midfielder on the Academic All-America® first team. A Business Administration major with a 3.98 G.P.A., he scored five goals with three assists to help the Green Knights finish the season with a 13-6 record. A native of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, Cremer is a two-time Academic All-Midwest Conference pick who serves as Chair of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee
Senior forward Ross Middlemiss of Sonoma and junior forward Luke Lennox of St. John Fisher round out the Academic All-America® first team.
The top scorer for the Seawolves as a senior, Middlemiss had 18 goals and nine assists. Honored as the 2008 Daktronics West Region Player of the Year, the Arcata, Cal. native led Sonoma to the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Middlemiss is a Biology major with a 3.64 G.P.A.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Lennox led his team in scoring for a second straight season and earned first team All-Empire-8 honors. The 2007 Empire-8 Player of the Year, he scored six goals with four assists this season. He has a double major in Biology (pre med) and Psychology with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A.
With four members of the first team boasting 4.0 cumulative grade point averages, the overall G.P.A. of the team was a 3.89.
To be eligible for the national team, a student athlete had to have been selected to its District’s first team. Initial nomination criteria at the District level includes being a varsity starter or key reserve, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, reaching sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by their 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.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION: Dan O’Connell, Towson University (
doconnell@towson.edu)
(410) 704-3102
Academic All-America ® Vice-Chair For Publicity/Communications
Geoff Hassard, SUNY at Oneonta (
hassargj@oneonta.edu)
(607) 436-2106
Academic All-America ® Coordinator of Publicity