NEW!
Capital One Academic All-America® website
•
List of 55 Capital One Academic All-America participants at London Olympics (
PDF)
•
List of 55 Capital One Academic All-America participants at London Olympics (
.doc)
At least 55 past and present Capital One Academic All-America® selections will represent 14 different nations when the Olympics get underway on July 27.
Capital One Academic All-America® Teams are selected in 12 sports (Football, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field, Men’s and Women’s At-Large) annually and selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Capital One Academic All-America® teams are picked on the Division I, Division II, Division III and College Division levels.
Not surprisingly, 36 of the Capital One Academic All-America® honorees will compete for the United States while four will represent Canada. Australia and Italy have two Academic All-America® selections on their rosters. Chile, Great Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, Liberia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Portugal and Slovenia each have one Capital One Academic All-America ® representative on their Olympic rosters.
West Virginia University leads all schools with five Capital One Academic All-America® selections participating in the Olympics. Former Academic All-America® honoree
Dave Johnson is the head coach of the USA rifle team. He earned second team Academic All-America® notice in 1984 and 1986.
Another WVU alum,
Eric Uptagrafft (1992, 1993) is a member of the American roster.
Nicco Campriani (2011) and Petra Zublasing (2012) are competing for the rifle team from Italy. A second team Academic All-America® track and field performer in 2011,
Sarah-Anne Brault of West Virginia will compete for Canada in the triathlon.
Florida State has four men’s and women’s track and field Academic All-America® selections who will compete in the Olympics for four different nations. A first team Academic All-America® honoree in 2006,
Lacy Janson is a pole vaulter for the United States women’s team after finishing third at the Olympic trials.
Kimberly Williams, a two-time Academic All-America® pick in 2010 and 2011 and the most decorated athlete in FSU program history, will compete for Jamaica in the triple jump.
A three-time Academic All-America ® selection,
Gonzalo Barroilhet will compete in decathlon for Chile while
Ciaran O’Lionaird is a member of Ireland’s team and will run the 1500-meter.
Florida, North Carolina and Oregon will each have three former Academic All-America® honorees competing in London.
Florida has three Academic All-America® swimmers going to the Olympics.
Clark Burckle and
Brett Fraser will be swimming for the United States men’s team at the Olympics while rising junior
Elizabeth Beisel is part of the USA women’s swimming squad. Burckle was five-time All-American at Florida who graduated in 2010. A 2011 graduate of Florida, Fraser set five school records for the Gators and led them to the national championship as a senior.
The lone sophomore on the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large first team, Beisel is a telecommunications major with a 3.61 G.P.A. She won the 2012 NCAA championship in the 200 backstroke and she was the Southeastern Conference Swimmer of the Year in 2012. A nine-time All-American, she will compete in her second Olympics. Beisel is one of the top contenders for the gold medal in the 400 I.M.
Three
North Carolina alumni will compete for the United States teams in the Olympics.
Rachel Dawson, a 2009 graduate of UNC, will lead the USA field hockey team.
Heather O’Reilly, who was the Academic All-America® of the Year in women’s soccer in 2006, will represent the Tar Heels on the USA women’s soccer team.
Alice Schmidt, a 2004 UNC graduate, is a member of the USA track and field team.
The University of Oregon is represented by Galen Rupp and Cyrus Hostetler on the USA men’s track and field team while Brianne Thiesen will compete for Canada. Rupp was the Academic All-America® of the Year in 2009 and will compete in the 5,000 and 10,000-,meter runs in London. Hostetler will compete for a javelin medal in London. A second team Academic All-America® honoree in 2012, Thiesen is a five-time NCAA champion who will compete in the heptathlon for Canada.
All-American fencer Jeff Spear of Columbia University, the 2010 Academic All-America® of the Year in the men’s at-large program, will be fencing for the United States team in London.
The United States Olympic women’s basketball team will be led by a trio of former Academic All-America® honorees -- Maya Moore of Connecticut, Candace Parker of Tennessee and Lindsay Whalen of Minnesota.
The Academic All-America® of the Year in 2010 and 2011,
Moore was named first team Academic All-America® three times. The fourth-leading scorer in NCAA history with 3,036 points, she was a four-time All-American first team pick who led UConn to a 150-4 record and two national championships.
A two-time All-American,
Parker led Tennessee to back-to-back NCAA championships and was the Academic All-America® of the Year in 2008.
Whalen was a third team Academic All-America® selection in 2003.
The U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball team has five former Academic All-America® honorees on the roster, including two from Penn State and two from Nebraska.
Megan Hodge and Christa Harmotto, former teammates with the Nittany Lions, are hoping to lead the Americans to a medal. The 2009 Academic All-America® of the Year, Hodge earned Academic All-America® honors twice. Harmotto was a two-time Academic All-America® honoree in 2007 and 2008. They were part of the Nittany Lions’ historic run to four straight NCAA championships from 2007 to 2010. Harmotto was part of two national championship teams (2007, 2008), while Hodge played for three (2007, 2008, 2009) NCAA championship teams. The 2009 AVCA National Player of the Year, Hodge was a four-time AVCA All-American first team honoree. Hodge ranks second in school history with 2,142 career kills while leading Penn State to a 142-5 record. Harmotto is second in the Penn State career records in hitting percentage at .433 and fourth all-time in total blocks at 682.
Jordan Larson (2008) and Nancy Metcalf (2001) of Nebraska are also members of the United States volleyball team, along with Courtney Thompson of Washington. Metcalf was the Academic All-America® of the Year for volleyball in 2001.
There are 10 former Academic All-America® of the Year award winners competing in the OIympics. In addition to Hodge, Metcalf, Moore, O’Reilly, Parker, Rupp and Spear, Lisa (Kohl) Uhl, Christine Sinclair and David McNeill will be competing in the Olympics.
An
Iowa State graduate, Koll Uhl is an 11-time All-American who earned Academic All-America® women’s track and field first team honors three times. Named as the Academic All-America® of the Year for women’s track and field in 2009, she qualified for the USA Olympic team in the 10,000-meter run.
A member of the Canadian Olympic team,
University of Portland graduate Sinclair was the Academic All-America® of the Year in women’s soccer in 2005. Sinclair scored 110 goals with 32 assists in her career, leading the Pilots to national championships in 2002 and 2005. She was a three-time Academic All-America® selection.
A graduate of the
University of Northern Arizona, McNeill is a member of Australia’s Olympic team. A two-time Academic All-America® first team selection for men’s track and field, he was the Academic All-America® of the Year in 2010. He will be running distance events in the Olympics.
Karch Karaly, a member of the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, will serve as an assistant coach for the United States Women’s Volleyball team.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (
www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., and ING Bank, fsb, had $216.5 billion in deposits and $294.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of March 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One and ING Direct offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All-America Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
About the Capital One Academic All-America® Program (as selected by CoSIDA)
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 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 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit
www.cosida.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dan O’Connell
Towson University
Academic All-America ® Vice-Chair for Publicity/Communications
doconnell@towson.edu
(410) 704-3102