November 9, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . Seventeen Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) student-athletes were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII College Division Teams in football, volleyball, men's soccer, and women's soccer selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) recently.

Football
Cornell defensive back Don Bladt (Shelby, Iowa/AHST) and linebacker Brian King (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) were named to the First Team, while Buena Vista defensive back Jared Boysen (Harlan, Iowa/Harlan Community) and defensive lineman Scott Radke (Aurelia, Iowa/Alta), Central linebacker Zach Van Arkel (Malcom, Iowa/Grinnell), Simpson linebacker Chad Onstot (Ackworth, Iowa/Indianola), and Wartburg defensive lineman Jared Tucker (Strawberry Point, Iowa/Starmont) were named to the Second Team.

Bladt is a senior chemistry major with a 3.61 grade-point average. King is a senior biochemistry & molecular biology with a 3.76 GPA. Boysen is a senior mathematics education major with a 3.83 GPA. Radke is a sophomore with a 3.89 GPA and an open major. Van Arkel is a senior physics major with a 3.87 GPA. Onstot is a sophomore mathematics major with a 4.0 GPA, and Tucker is a senior physical education major with a 3.50 GPA.

Volleyball
Cornell attacker Laura Dudgeon (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) was named to the Second Team. She is a senior kinesiology major with a 3.75 GPA.

Men's soccer
Loras defender Nate Minkel (Marshalltown, Iowa/Marshalltown), Simpson defender Matt Winegard (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine), and Luther forward Adam Pyzdrowski (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) were named to the First Team, while Dubuque goalkeeper Nick Kasper (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) and midfielder Ellison Kelling (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah), and Wartburg midfielder Geoff Miller (St. Louis, Mo./University) received Second Team honors.

Minkel is a senior accounting major with a 3.93 GPA. Winegard is a senior biology major with a 3.85 GPA. Pyzdrowski is a senior accounting and Spanish major with a 3.88 GPA. Kasper is a sophomore 3.31 business and accounting major with a 3.31 GPA. Kelling is a senior accounting major with a 3.78 GPA. Miller is a senior biochemistry major with a 3.54 major.

Women's soccer
Wartburg forward Katy Wendt (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) is a First Team selection, while Luther defender Ashley Meirick (Pella, Iowa/Pella) and forward Dani Meirick (Pella, Iowa/Pella) were named to the Second Team.

Wendt is a sophomore psychology major with a 4.0 GPA, Ashley Meirick is a senior Spanish and management major with a 3.97 GPA, and Dani Meirick is a sophomore biology major with a 4.0 GPA.

Academic All-District First Team members move on to the national ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® ballot. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Women’s Soccer Team is scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, November 17 and the Men’s Soccer Team is scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, November 18. Volleyball (Nov. 23) and Football (Nov. 24) are scheduled to e announced the following week.

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 3.30 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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