May 25, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . Seven Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) student-athletes were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII At-Large Teams. Student-athletes participating in sports that do not have its own Academic All-District and Academic All-America® Team are eligible for the At-Large Team including swimming, golf, tennis and wrestling.

Central College tennis player Nick Cochrane (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) and Coe College tennis player Chris Paasch (Atlantic, Iowa/Atlantic) were named to the Men’s At-Large First Team. University of Dubuque tennis player Ryan Banchak (Prairie du Chien, Wis./Prairie Senior) and wrestler Dan Ruter (Buffalo Lake, Minn./Buffalo Lake), and Wartburg College tennis player Nick Wuertz (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) and golfer Blake Halvorsen (Osceola, Iowa/Clarke) were named to the Men’s At-Large Second Team.

Coe swimmer Vonni Moorman (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood) was named to the Women’s At-Large Team.

Cochrane is a senior English major with a 3.92 grade point average. Paasch is a senior computer science/psychology major with a 3.80 GPA. Banchak is a senior business major with a 3.71 GPA. Ruter is a sophomore sociology major with a 3.94 GPA. Wuertz is a senior religion major with a 3.83 GPA. Halvorsen is a junior business administration major with a 3.77 GPA. Moorman is a biology/molecular biology major with a 3.95 GPA.

Moorman (First Team) and Cochrane (Second Team) were an Academic All-District At-Large selections last year. Cochrane, Paasch and Moorman move on to the national Academic All-America® ballot. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® men’s at-large Team is scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, June 13. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® women’s at-large Team is scheduled to be announced on Thursday, June 15.

To be eligible for selection to the Academic All-District Team, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore academic and athletic standing, be a starter or key reserve and possess at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).

District VII College Division includes NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA schools in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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