Aris Wurtz of Ripon, Carol Cayo of Milwaukee School of Engineering lead Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Basketball Teams

Aris Wurtz of Ripon, Carol Cayo of Milwaukee School of Engineering lead Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Basketball Teams


2011-12 Basketball Academic All-America Team® announcements:
• Monday, Feb. 20: College Division
• Tuesday, Feb. 21: NCAA Division III
• Wednesday, Feb. 22: NCAA Division II
• Thursday, Feb. 23: NCAA Division I

2011-12 Capital One Men's & Women's Basketball Academic All-America® Teams (Div. III) - PDF

2011-12 Capital One Men's & Women's Basketball Academic All-America Teams (Div. III) - doc


TOWSON, Md. – Senior forward Aris Wurtz of Ripon College and senior center Carol Cayo of Milwaukee School of Engineering top the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Wurtz and Cayo have been chosen as the NCAA Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award winners for men’s and women’s basketball, respectively.

The Capital One Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011-12 D-III Academic All-America® teams program.

An Industrial Engineering major with a 3.98 grade point average (G.P.A), Cayo is a repeat selection on the Capital One Academic All-America® Women’s Basketball team. She earned second team honors last season. A native of Lake Mills, Wis., Cayo recently became the third player in Milwaukee School of Engineering history to score 1,500 points in her career. She is averaging 17.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game for the Raiders, who are 15-9 on the season.

A two-time first-team All-Northern Athletic Conference honoree, Cayo also became the first player in league history to reach 1,000 rebounds for a career earlier this season. The three-time first-team Academic All-District selection is the MSOE’s and the NAC’s all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots.

Wurtz, who was named to the Capital One Academic All-American first team for the second year in a row, has a triple major of business management, economics and philosophy with a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. He led Ripon to back-to-back appearances in the Midwest Conference Tournament as a sophomore and junior. A two-time first team All-Midwest Conference selection, he earned third team all-region honors as a sophomore and junior. Wurtz was named to the 2011-12 pre-season All-America team. A 6-4 senior forward from Waupun, Wis., he is the eighth-leading scorer in NCAA Division III with a 25.0 scoring average.

As a senior, he led Ripon to a 14-9 record.Wurtz  finished his career as the third-leading scorer in school history with 1,821 points and also is the third-leading rebounder in school history with 578 rebounds.

Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Men's Basketball Team

Wurtz is one of three repeat selections on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III men’s basketball team. Senior center Matt Carr of Worcester Polytechnic Institute was a second team Academic All-America® pick last year while senior center Felix Friedt of Whitworth earned third team honors last season.

Senior guard Mark Blazek of Hartwick and junior forward Brett Tester of St. Scholastica were also named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III first team. The five members of the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Men’s Basketball first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.97.

A chemical engineering major with a minor in chemistry and a 3.92 G.P.A., Carr has led WPI to an 18-6 record and the number two seed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Tournament. A 6-7 center, he was named first team All-NEWMAC last season after guiding WPI to a 23-6 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Carr leads WPI in scoring this season with a 16.7 average. He is also WPI’s top rebounder with an 8.1 average while blocking 45 shots.

A 6-8 senior center, Friedt has led No. 10 Whitworth to its third straight Northwest Conference championship and a 22-3 record. An international business major with a 3.97 G.P.A., the Dusseldorf, Germany native is averaging 16.2 points per game. The top rebounder in the Northwest Conference with an 8.8 average, Friedt also leads the Pirates with a .595 field goal percentage. He was named second team All-NWC as a junior.

A biology and pre-physical therapy major with a 3.96 G.P.A., Blazek has guided No. 25 Hartwick to a 23-2 record and its first-ever Empire 8 regular season title. The Hawks’ second-leading scorer with a 14.5 scoring average, Blazek also leads the Hawks with a .434 field goal percentage from three-point range. A two-time All-Empire 8 selection, the Erie, Pa. native earned first team All-ECAC honors in 2011.

An accounting and finance major with a 4.00 G.P.A., Tester is the only junior on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III first team. A three-time selection as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week, he leads St. Scholastica in scoring with a 17.2 average. He also leads the Saints with a 7.2 rebounding mark while guiding the team to a 13-12 record. A native of Andover, Minn., he was named first team All-UMAC notice as a sophomore. In 2010, he was the UMAC freshman of the Year.

Senior Spencer Liddic of Muhlenberg, a first team Capital One Academic All-America® selection last year, heads up the second team. He is joined on the second team by a pair of seniors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Noel Hollingsworth and Jamie Karraker. Mike Case of Hanover and Matt Johnson of Chicago complete the first team.

Senior Tim McCarty of Johns Hopkins, a third team Academic All-America® selection last year, tops the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Men’s Basketball third team. Senior Nick Heathscott of Hendrix and Tim McCrary of Wheaton (Ill.) join juniors Colton Hunt of Randolph and Jason Norsen of St. John Fisher, completing the third team.

Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Women's Basketball Team

Cayo is joined on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Women’s Basketball first team by two other repeat selections - senior forward Erin Hollinger of Case Western Reserve University and senior guard Sharwill Bell of Rhodes College.

Hollinger is the only three-time Academic All-America® selection, earning second team honors in both 2010 and 2011. She also earned a fourth Academic All-America® award as a member of the Capital One Academic All-America® track & field in 2010.

Bell was a third team honoree last season.

Rounding out the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Women’s Basketball first team are senior guard Dani Hoover of Washington University (Mo.) and senior forward Brittany Sedlock of Saint Vincent College.

The five members of the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Women’s Basketball first team carry an average G.P.A. of 3.972.

A macromolecular science and engineering major with a 3.96 G.P.A., Hollinger is a three-time All-University Athletic Association selection and was a finalist for the 2011 Jostens Trophy. A native of Chardon, Ohio, she is the second-leading scorer in school history with 1,379 points. Hollinger also leads the Spartans with a 13.0 scoring average and a 5.6 rebounding mark.

A biology major with a 3.94 G.P.A., Bell joined the 1,000-point club at Rhodes College in late December. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Bell leads the Lynx with 14.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. A two-time All-Southern College Athletic Conference pick, she was the league’s scoring leader last season with a 19.2 average. She was named as the SCAC Newcomer of the Year in 2009-10 after transferring from Division I Elon College.

A systems science & engineering major with a 4.0 G.P.A., Hoover leads the nationally-ranked Bears in scoring with an 11.0 scoring average. She is also averaging 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest. A Junction City, Kansas native, Hoover is a three-time Academic All-University Athletic Association selection and a two-time Capital One District All-Academic honoree. Last season, Hoover was named as the NCAA Elite 88 winner as the Bears reached the NCAA Tournament Division III championship game and finished the season with a 25-6 record. As a sophomore, she was a member of the Bears’ national championship team.

A mathematics education major with a 4.0 G.P.A., Sedlock leads the President Athletics Conference in both scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 rpg). A native of Northern Cambria, Pa., Sedlock recently joined SVC’s 1,000-point club. She was the PAC Player of the Year last season.

Comprising the Academic All-America® second team are seniors Alexandra Chili (Muhlenberg), Molly Geske (Gustavus Adolphus), Lizzy Sunderhaus (Cedar Crest) and April Young (Ozarks) along with junior Katie Dellinger of Widener.

Seniors Alisa Dickerson of Rose-Hulman, Laura Hilby (Buena Vista) and Taylor Simpson (Chicago) head the Capital One Academic All-America® third team, along with juniors Hannah Munger of George Fox and Carissa Verkaik of Calvin.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. 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 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men’s and women’s sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 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

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 14,000 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
(410) 704-3102
doconnell@towson.edu

Nick Minerd
Case Western University
Academic All-America ® Coordinator of Publicity
(706) 379-5106
nxm229@case.edu