June
10, 2008
CEDAR
RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Coe College wrestler Tyler
Burkle (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn), Luther College swimmer
Elissa Schmidt (Claremont, Minn./Owatonna),
and Luther College wrestler Alec Bonander (Larchwood,
Iowa/West Lyon) have been named to the ESPN the Magazine
College Division Academic All-America® At-Large Teams as
selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of
America). Burkle and Schmidt were named to the Second Team,
while Bonander was a Third Team selection.
Burkle, a sophomore with a 3.86 grade point average in business
administration, was crowned Coe's first wrestling National Champion
earlier this year. He finished the season with a perfect 36-0
record at 165 pounds.
Schmidt,
who graduated from Luther this spring, was a biology major who
accumulated a grade point average of 3.85. Earlier this year,
Schmidt became the 29th Luther student-athlete to be the recipient
of a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She was a four-time
All-American at the 2008 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving
Championships. Schmidt placed fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:51.81)
and seventh in the 100 freestyle (51.78), while also swimming
the opening leg of both the 400 and 800 freestyle relays. She
also earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 50 freestyle
finishing 12th (24.15).
Bonander,
a management major with a 3.81 GPA, completed his junior year
with a record of 27-7 to increase his career total to 79-21.
He made his third consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III
Wrestling Championships where he earned his second All-America
honor with a fifth-place finish at 197 pounds.
To
be eligible for selection to the Academic All-America® At-Large
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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