Brendan Buckley of Army, Elizabeth Beisel of Florida Top Capital One Academic All-America® Division I At-Large Teams
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CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® TEAM S ELECTED BY C O SIDA FOR RELEASE: Thursday, June 6 – 12 noon (EDT) Please visit the Capital One Academic All-America® website http://www.capitaloneacademicallamerica.com/ BRENDAN BUCKLEY OF ARMY, ELIZABETH BEISEL OF FLORIDA TOP CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® DIVISION I AT-LARGE TEAMS TOWSON, Md. – Senior lacrosse player Brendan Buckley of the U.S. Military Academy and junior swimmer Elizabeth Beisel of the University of Florida lead the 2013 Capital One Academic All- America® Division I men’s and women’s at-large teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Buckley and Beisel have been chosen as the winners of the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year award for the Division I Men’s and Women’s At Large programs, respectively. The at-large team for the Capital One Academic All-America® program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo for both men and women; bowling, crew and field hockey for women; and volleyball and wrestling for men. An engineering management major with a 3.99 G.P.A., Buckley will enter the Field Artillery branch of the U.S. Army and post with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Schweinfurt, Germany. The Massapequa, N.Y., native was awarded the Distinguished Cadet and Superintendent’s Award for Excellence. He became the second Army student-athlete to receive the Senior CLASS Award since April and the second Black Knights’ men’s lacrosse player overall. A three-year starter at close defenseman, Buckley earned United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America third team honors and was drafted by the Boston Cannons with the 54th overall pick in the 2013 Major League Lacrosse Draft. He was a two-time All-Patriot League first team selection. Buckley led Army with 19 caused turnovers in 2013 and guarded some of the nation’s best attackmen. Army finished 8-6 overall including a 4-2 Patriot League record. Graduating 10th in his class of 1,077 cadets, Buckley started a cadet mentorship program that has included trips to a local elementary school for reading and playing sports with students. He was a USILA Scholar Athlete honoree once. A telecommunications major with a 3.63 G.P.A., Beisel claimed her second NCAA individual championship with a first place finish in the 400 I.M. at the 2013 NCAA Championships. She added five All-America first team honors to her collection this season and now has 14 medals in her career. At the 2013 Southeastern Conference Championships, the North Kingstown, R.I., native won SEC titles in the 400 I.M. and the 200-backstroke. She also collected five All-SEC honors, finishing no lower than second in all three individual events and swimming on two second-place relay teams (400-free and 800-free). – more – Buckley, Beisel Top Academic All-America® Division I At-Large Team Page 2 Beisel, who was awarded the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy (high point award) for the second straight year, finished the regular season undefeated in the 200-backstroke. She led the Gators with 21 individual victories during the season (not including championships), scoring wins in eight events. A member of the 2012 United States Olympics team, Beisel earned a silver medal in the 400 I.M. and a bronze medal in the 200 backstroke. The 2012 SEC Female Swimmer of the Year has won both the 400 I.M. and the 200 backstroke three years in a row at the SEC Championships. She is a 2012 and 2013 SEC Commissioner's Trophy recipient who led the Gators to a sixth place finish at the NCAA Championship Meet. Capital One Division I Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large First Team Buckley is joined on the Capital One Academic All-America® men’s at-large Division I first team by three wrestlers, two golfers, two swimmers, two ice hockey players and two tennis players. In addition, there is one other lacrosse player, a water polo player, a gymnast and a fencer. Wrestlers Steve Bonanno of Hofstra University, Matt Brown of Penn State University and wrestler Josh Ihnen of the University of Nebraska were named to the first team, along with golfers Nathan Anderson of North Dakota State University and Cory Whitsett of the University of Alabama. Tennis standouts Greg Andrews of the University of Notre Dame and Victor Valente of Georgia State University were also honored. Ice hockey players Nick Bailen of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cheyne Rocha of Army also earned spots on the first team, along with swimmers Alex Lendrum of the University of Southern California and Kyle Owens of Auburn University. Water polo player Jackson Hummeldorf of the U.S. Naval Academy, gymnast Michael Newburger of Ohio State and fencer Maxwell Stearns of Ohio State round out the first team. Buckley is the only repeat first team selection on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I men’s at-large team. Bonanno, Ihnen, Anderson, Lendrum and Owens were Capital One Academic All-America® second team picks in 2012, while Bailen was a third team selection last year. Army and Ohio State are the only schools with two first team representatives. An M.B.A. candidate who graduated in May of 2012 with a 3.77 G.P.A. in accounting, Bonanno was a four-time NCAA championship qualifier for Hofstra. A 2012 NCAA All-American and a two-time Colonial Athletic Association wrestling champion at 125-pounds, he was a two-time CAA Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A native of Wantagh, N.Y., Bonanno had a 19-12 overall record in 2012- 13 including a 12-9 mark in dual matches and a 6-0 mark in the CAA. He closed out his Hofstra career by winning 12 of his last 17 matches to finish with a 103-50 career mark. A sophomore with a major in criminology and a 3.97 G.P.A., Brown was the NCAA runner-up and Big Ten champion at 174-pounds while leading Penn State to its third straight NCAA and Big Ten Wrestling championships. A native of West Valley City, Utah, he was the 2013 NCAA Elite 89 wrestling recipient and compiled a 29-5 record including a 11-3 record in duals. An Academic All-Big Ten selection, Brown has a 56-7 career record with 15 pins. Ihnen, a graduate student with a 3.80 G.P.A. in business, was a four-time NCAA championship qualifier and earned 2012 All-America honors wrestling at 184-pounds for Nebraska. He compiled a 27-8 record as a senior, including a 13-4 ledger in dual matches. A native of Sheldon, Iowa, Ihnen was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten and All-Big 12 performer, and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he was a volunteer for the People’s City Mission. – more – Buckley, Beisel Top Academic All-America® Division I At-Large Team Page 3 An accounting major with a 4.0 G.P.A., Anderson led The Summit League with a North Dakota State school-record 72.23 scoring average, won two tournaments at Navy and South Dakota State and was runner-up at two other events. The Oxbow, N.D., native, shot a school record-tying 64 in the final round at Rice to vault from 24th place into a tie for second place. He also tied the school 36-hole record with a 138 in his win at Navy. Whitsett, a junior management major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Alabama in scoring with a 70.84 average heading into the NCAA Championships. He went 4-and-3 in his match against Illinois on June 2, leading the Crimson Tide to the program’s first golf national championship. A native of Houston, Texas, Whitsett received the NCAA Elite 89 Men’s Golf award in both 2012 and 2013. He was named as the 2013 SEC Golfer of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was a two-time All-American and All-SEC first team pick. A junior accounting major with a 3.88 G.P.A., Andrews was the two-time Big East Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and a three-time all-conference selection for Notre Dame. He was named as the Most Outstanding Player in leading the Fighting Irish to the 2013 Big East Tournament Championship. A native of Richland, Mich., Andrews was an eight-time Big East Player of the Week during his career and earned 2011 Big East Freshman of the Year honors. He reached the 2012 United State Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Region doubles championship and was a two-time NCAA singles qualifier. A senior majoring in computer info systems with a 4.16 G.P.A., Valente was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference performer who led Georgia State to the 2013 conference title. He advanced to the NCAA championships in both singles and doubles, with his doubles team reaching the round of 16. The San Paulo, Brazil, native received the ITA Southeast Region Senior of the Year and Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship awards. Valente was ranked 64th nationally in singles, compiling a 19- 4 record. He also went 14-2 in doubles competition. He was the ITA Region runner-up and qualified for the USTA/ITA national indoor tournament. A double major in business and management/economics with a 3.88 G.P.A., Bailen led the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) hockey team with 31 points on a team-best 12 goals and 19 assists in 35 games.