CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— The America East Conference office announced the 2011 America East Tennis All-Academic squads Tuesday afternoon. The teams consist of 12 student-athletes, six men and six women, who represent the best of the America East Conference, both on the court and in the classroom.
The America East men’s champion Binghamton University leads the way with three selections to the squad. Senior Sven Vloedgraven (Lochem, Netherlands/Isendoorn College), the 2011 America East Player of the Year and 2010 America East Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, makes his third appearance on an all-academic squad. A pair of fellow Bearcats, senior Arnav Jain (Mumbai, India/J.M.L. School) and junior Gilbert Wong (Hong Kong/Diocesan Boys School) are also repeat selections to the squad. Each of the three Bearcats are first-team all-conference performers.
Another all-conference performer, UMBC junior Joe Adewumi (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon), is a repeat selection to the all-academic team. Adewumi earned a second-team all-conference selection.
Stony Brook University senior Ivan Rummel (Budapest, Hungary/Altisz Gymnasium), a four-time America East all-academic team selection, and University of Hartford junior Aneil Bhalla (Ottawa, Ontario/Merivale), making his second all-academic team, round out the men’s squad. Each of the six men selected to the 2011 All-Academic squad are repeat selections.
The women’s all-academic team features two repeat all-academic selections. Stony Brook senior Gayatri Krishnan (Chennai, India/National Inst. of Open Schooling) and Binghamton junior Marina Bykovskaya (Saratov, Russia/Secondary School 8) are repeat selections to the squad. Both Krishnan and Bykovskaya earned all-academic recognition in 2010.
Krishnan and Bykovskaya are also among the four all-conference selections on the all-academic squad. Krishnan and Binghamton senior Lauren Bates (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore West) were first-team all-conference selections. Bykovskaya and Boston University junior Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland/Spoleczne Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace) earned second-team all-conference recognition.
University at Albany senior Laine Mackey (Leawood, Kan./Shawnee Mission) and Hartford junior Margaret Sabatino (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) picked up the remaining spots with their first selections to the all-academic team.
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 third straight year, America East will select the All-Academic teams using CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program as a model. Student-athletes worthy of consideration are nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by a 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, for example, six student-athletes in the sport of tennis. 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.
Men’s Tennis All-Academic Team
Name Cl. School Hometown/High School GPA Major
Joe Adewumi (1) Jr. UMBC Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon 3.59 Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
Aneil Bhalla (1) Jr. Hartford Ottawa, Ontario/Merivale 3.96 Biology/Chemistry
Arnav Jain (2) Sr. Binghamton Mumbai, India/J.M.L. School 3.39 Management
Ivan Rummel (3) Sr. Stony Brook Budapest, Hungary/Altisz Gymnasium 3.87 Business Management & Economics
Sven Vloedgraven (4) Sr. Binghamton Lochem, Netherlands/Isendoorn College 3.83 Accounting
Gilbert Wong (1) Jr. Binghamton Hong Kong/Diocesan Boys School 3.79 Accounting
Women’s Tennis All-Academic Team
Name Cl. School Hometown/Previous School GPA Major
Laurn Bates Sr. Binghamton Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore West 3.44 English & Spanish
Marina Bykovskaya (1) Jr. Binghamton Saratov, Russia/Secondary School 8 3.65 Management
Gayatri Krishnan (1) Sr. Stony Brook Chennai, India/National Inst. of Open Schooling 3.86 Business Management & Economics
Laine Mackey Sr. Albany Leawood, Kan./Shawnee Mission 3.69 Political Science
Monika Mical Jr. Boston U. Stalowa Wola, Poland/Spoleczne Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace 3.81 Psychology
Margaret Sabatino Jr. Hartford Antioch, Ill./Antioch 3.82 Management
(1) - All-Academic Selection, 2010
(2) - All-Academic Selection, 2009
(3) - All-Academic Selection, 2008-10
(4) - All-Academic Selection, 2009-10