NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Seniors Mike Leveille, a lacrosse player at Syracuse University and Josh Mitchell, a swimmer at Kenyon College, head the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men’s At-Large Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Men’s At-Large program for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
Leveille, the University Division Academic All-America® of the Year, makes his first appearance on the Academic All-America squad after earning first team United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America honors this past season. The winner of the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation’s Most Outstanding Player, he also was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four after helping Syracuse to a 16-2 record and the national title. The team captain, Leveille led the team with 49 goals and 34 assists, scoring 10 points (four goals, six assists) during the Final Four. A native of Delmar, N.Y., he has a 3.87 grade point average in accounting.
Joining Leveille on the University Division Academic All-America first team were golfers Drew Allenspach (Indiana), Chris Renninger (Navy) and Joseph Sykora (Alabama), gymnasts Dylan Carney (Stanford) and Stephen Tetrault (Nebraska), Ice Hockey standouts Jeff Lerg (Michigan State) and Andrew Lord (Rensselaer), wrestlers Tanner Gardner (Stanford), Tyler McCormick (Missouri) and Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) along with UCLA’s Matheiu Dehaine (Tennis), Navy’s Eric Gardiner (Water Polo), Stanford’s Sandy Hohener (Water Polo) and Florida’s Kevin Nead (Swimming).
Seven of the 15 first team university division selections were named to the team a year ago. Carney, Gardner, Sykora and Tannebaum each repeated as first team honorees with Sykora also earning first team honors in 2006 and Tannenbaum being a second team choice that year as well. East Carolina’s Geoff Handsfield repeated as a second team choice this year while first teamers McCormick, Nead and Tetrault, along with second team choices Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins) and Landis Stankievech (Princeton), were each part of the 2007 third team.
Mitchell, from Iron Mountain, Mich., is the College Division Academic All-America® of the Year. He earned 2008 NCAA Swimmer of the Year honors after winning six events and finishing second in a seventh to lead Kenyon the NCAA Division III national championship. A 15-time All-American and 11-time national champion, he was part of three national championship teams, earning North Coast Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Year honors in each of the last two seasons. A recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate scholarship, he has a 3.89 grade point average in biochemistry.
Joining Mitchell on the College Division Academic All-America first team are Western New England's Travis Brown (Lacrosse), Gustavus Adolphus’ Andy Bryan (Tennis), Missouri Science & Technology’s Mark Chamberlain (Swimming), Embry-Riddle's Mislav Hizak (Tennis), Alaska-Fairbanks’ Marius Korthauer (Skiing), Emory’s Nicholas Lake (Swimming), Olivet's Dustin Meisner (Swimming), Rensselaer’s Michael Milligan (Swimming), Shenandoah’s Theodore Rogers (Lacrosse), John Carroll’s Paul Schroder (Golf), Greensboro’s David Sutton (Tennis), Maryville’s (Mo.) Tyler Tate (Tennis), Wheaton’s (Ill.) Josh Williams (Tennis) and Alaska-Anchorage’s Raphael Wunderle (Skiing).
Nine of the first team college division selections were honored a year ago as well. Brown, Hizak, Meisner and Williams were each first team honorees with Hizak and Meisner each being tabbed for the third team in 2006. Bryan and Tate, along with second team honoree Christopher Coley (Seattle) were each second team selections a year ago while Rogers, Schroder and Sutton, along with second team pick Patrick Rittenauer (Barry), were each third team choices in 2007.
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.
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For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit
www.cosida.com or e-mail
rlipe@bentley.edu.
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