BOSTON — America East Conference is proud to annouce the All-Academic teams for each of its winter sports. Men’s and women’s basketball, indoor track & field and swimming & diving student-athletes have been honored for their achievements athletically and academically. The awards were announced on Wednesday (March 29).
Complete All-Academic Team Breakdown (PDF)
Boston University and University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) topped all member institutions with each having 11 student-athletes on the winter all-academic teams. Binghamton University (seven), University of New Hampshire (seven) and University of Maine (six) followed closely behind. University at Albany (five), Stony Brook University (four) and University of Vermont (two) also boasted all-academic members as well.
Vermont’s Martin Klimes, a third-team, all-defensive team and all-championship team selection, highlights the Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team, while Rachael Vanderwal, a first-team and all-defensive team selection for Boston University tops the women’s basketball squad.
Albany’s Andrew Allstadt, the 2006 Track Performer of the Year, headlines the Men’s Indoor Track & Field squad. Boston U.’s Marisa Ryan leads the women’s team with her 3,000-meter crown after a record-breaking run at the 2006 Indoor Track & Field Championship.
Binghamton University’s Brian Koizim highlights the Men’s Swimming & Diving selections after winning the 200-medley relay and 400-medley relay and taking second in five individual events. New Hampshire’s Kary Goodman, the 2006 Most Outstanding Swimmer, leads the women’s squad with her record-breaking performances in the 200-medley relay, 100-back stroke, 400-medley relay and 200-back stroke at the 2006 Swimming & Diving Championship.
The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.
Each All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletic accomplishment standards vary between team sports and individual sports. For team sports, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the post-season awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. For track & field and swimming & diving, student-athletes are required to be a top-three finisher at the conference championship meet. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., five on the court for basketball). In the event that the number of student-athletes meeting the requirements is greater than the number that participate in a contest at one time, all-conference vote totals were used as the tie-breaking criteria. Team size for individual sports is determined by the number of all-conference honorees who possess the minimum academic requirement.