May 23, 2008
IRVING, Texas - Nine Conference USA student-athletes have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District at-large teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members. East Carolina, SMU, Tulsa and Rice all had two selections, while Memphis had one selection.
ECU junior golfer Markus Leandersson was named to the District III University Division men's at-large second team, while senior tennis player Hannah Priest was voted to the women's at-large second team.
Leandersson and Priest each earned all-district honors for the first time in their careers. Leandersson has a cumulative GPA of 4.0 as finance major, while Priest carried a 3.98 cumulative GPA as a physical education major. Both were named to their respective sports Conference USA All-Academic Team.
SMU junior swimmer Jennifer Basel was selected to the District VI first team, while junior golfer Kate Ackerson was selected to the second team.
Basel owns a 3.94 cumulative GPA in mathematics and mechanical engineering and was a 2008 Conference USA All-Academic pick. She has earned a spot on the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll each of the last three years. This season, Basel helped guide the Mustangs to a 5-3 dual record and their 12th consecutive conference championship. At the C-USA Championships, Basel won the 400 IM, setting new conference and pool records. She also set new conference and pool records in the 200 breast and took second in the 200 IM with a season-best time.
Ackerson holds a 3.89 GPA in business and was named to the 2007 NGCA All-American Scholar Team and ESPN the Magazine's Academic All-District squad in 2007. A two-time All-Conference USA selection, Ackerson has won three career C-USA Golfer of the Week awards and finished third at the 2007 C-USA Championships.
Tulsa tennis players Arnau Brugues and Agostina Santoro were both selected to the District VI team. Brugues was a first team member, while Santoro was a second team selection.
Brugues is still alive in the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championship. Ranked 18th nationally, Brugues upset the tournament's No. 5 seed Daniel Vallverdu of Miami (Fla.) with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Thursday. He improved his overall season record to 22-8, including his 11th victory against a top-100 ranked opponent.
Santoro, a senior and native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, also earned a repeat selection with a 3.66 in biochemistry. Santoro is a four-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member and six-time member of the Dean's List. TU's lone women's senior is 18-4 during the spring season at the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles slots.
Rice women's tennis player Dominique Karas and men's golfer Michael Buttacavoli were also named to the District VI team.
Karas, second team member, concluded her Rice career with a 3.74 grade point average and graduated earlier this month. She won 15 of her 20 during the spring mostly as the Owls No. 2 singles player en route to an All-Conference USA First-Team singles pick.
Last month, Buttacavoli was a unanimous selection to the Conference USA All-Academic Golf Team. He led the Rice squad with a 74.08 stroke average. Buttacavoli maintains a 3.87 grade point average as a mathematical economic analysis major at Rice.
Memphis' lone selection was tennis player Benedikt Fischer is a two-time honoree on the Conference USA All-Academic team and has gone his entire athletic career never getting less than an A in his college coursework. He graduated in May with a degree in International Business in just two years at Memphis and will work on his MBA during his final season of college eligibility next year. On the court, Fischer finished with a 14-8 overall record in singles play, including a 10-6 mark at No. 6 singles and a 2-0 mark at.
All first team honorees will now appear on the national ballot for Academic All-American honors.
