CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Thirteen tennis student-athletes, eight of which were all-conference honorees, have been selected to the America East Men’s and Women’s Tennis All-Academic Team as was announced by the conference office Thursday afternoon. These student athletes, who excel both academically as well as athletically, represent the best of the America East Conference.
The men’s squad consists of Binghamton University’s Arnav Jain (Mumbai, India) and Sven Vloedgraven (Lochem, Netherlands) and Stony Brook University’s Jon Epstein (Silver Spring, Md.), Youssef Fassi-Fehri (Fes, Morocco), Ivan Rummel (Budapest, Hungary) and Ilan Shvartz (Haifa, Israel).
Jain, Vloedgraven, Epstein and Fassi-Fehri were also all-conference selections, while Rummel and Shvartz are repeat selections from 2008.
The women’s team is made up of University at Albany’s Kim Weltman (Carmel, N.Y.), Binghamton University’s Danyelle Shapiro (Boca Raton, Fla.), Boston University’s Danielle Abraham (Waukesha, Wis.), Cori Lefkowith (Clayton, Mo.) and Francine Whu (Staten Island, N.Y.), and UMBC’s Cornelia Carapcea (Constanta, Romania) and Alice Chen (North Potomac, Md.).
Shapiro, Abraham, Lefkowith and Whu were also tabbed all-conference choices and are repeat selections from a year ago.
The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings, where faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor the league’s top student-athletes, whom excel equally in the classroom as they do on the playing field.
For the last two academic years, the All-Academic Team has been selected based on a formula. Starting this year, America East has adopted a more subjective approach based on feedback from various coaches’ groups and administrators and approval by the athletic directors. The process will now resemble the CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program. Student-athletes worthy of consideration will now be nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by committee of SIDs, academic advisors and faculty representatives from all nine member institutions.
All-Academic squads for team sports are based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (example: six players in tennis) or are made up of 10 student-athletes for individual sports. There may be more student-athletes recognized if a tie exists or fewer if eligibility requirements limit the number of nominees. To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team’s games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. Freshmen are not eligible for consideration.
2009 America East Men’s Tennis All-Academic Team
Name Cl. School Hometown GPA Major
Arnav Jain So. Binghamton Mumbai, India 3.65 Economics
Sven Vloedgraven So. Binghamton Lochem, Netherlands 3.87 Management
Jon Epstein Jr. Stony Brook Silver Spring, Md. 3.46 Business
Youssef Fassi-Fehri Sr. Stony Brook Fes, Morocco 3.50 Business
Ivan Rummel So. Stony Brook Budapest, Hungary 3.74 Business
Ilan Shvartz Jr. Stony Brook Haifa, Israel 3.72 Business
2009 America East Women’s Tennis All-Academic Team
Name Cl. School Hometown GPA Major
Kim Weltman Gr. Albany Carmel, N.Y. 3.69 UG/4.00 GR Mathematics/Secondary Education
Danyelle Shapiro Jr. Binghamton Boca Raton, Fla. 3.72 Management
Danielle Abraham Sr. Boston U. Waukesha, Wis. 3.83 Biology
Cori Lefkowith Sr. Boston U. Clayton, Mo. 3.55 Communications
Francine Whu Jr. Boston U. Staten Island, N.Y. 3.59 Sociology
Cornelia Carapcea Sr. UMBC Constanta, Romania 4.00 Information Systems/Financial Economics
Alice Chen Jr. UMBC North Potomac, Md. 4.00 Biochemistry/Molecular Biology