Jacob Lawrence an Academic All-American

[MarkL]

Congrats Jacob!

http://bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/11/18/ ... 95915.aspx

Bowling Green State University senior Jacob Lawrence has been named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men's Soccer Team, it was announced Wednesday (Nov. 18). Lawrence was named to the first team.

Lawrence becomes the first men's soccer player in a decade to be named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Official Release from CoSIDA - PDF (6 pages)
Last month (Oct. 30), Lawrence earned Academic All-District honors, making him eligible for consideration to the Academic All-America® Team. He becomes the first men's soccer student-athlete to earn such honors since 1999.

Lawrence, a native of Brandon, Miss. (St. Joseph), began the 2009 season at a defender spot, but saw extended time at forward down the stretch. He finished the season with five goals, three assists and 13 points, setting personal bests in all three categories. Lawrence was second on the Falcons on each of those three lists in '09.

In Mid-American Conference action, Lawrence led the Falcons with nine points in the six matches. He tied for the team lead with four goals, adding an assist.

Jacob Lawrence
Lawrence scored a pair of goals, including the game-winning penalty kick late in the second half, in the Falcons' 4-3 win at Buffalo, and also had a two-goal game in the Falcons' 2-2, double-overtime tie vs. Hartwick. Lawrence also found the back of the net vs. Detroit, and had assists against Michigan, Michigan State and Florida Atlantic. He played in 16 of BGSU's 18 matches this season, missing a pair of contests due to injury.

Lawrence finished his Falcon career with a total of 28 points on 11 goals and six assists.

In the classroom, Lawrence maintains a 3.93 cumulative grade point average as an interpersonal communications major. He earned academic all-district first-team honors from ESPN The Magazine in both 2008 and '09.

Previous men's soccer Academic All-America® Team selections by CoSIDA include Greg Murphy (1991), Joe Burch (1995 - Third Team and 1996 - First Team) and Ty Fowler (1999 - First Team). Murphy, Burch and Fowler earned GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America® Fall/Winter At-Large Team honors, as men's soccer did not have its own separate team selected at that time.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams, announced on Oct. 30, were the result of voting by CoSIDA members within their respective districts. BGSU is in District IV, which consists of schools in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. To qualify for nomination to the district team, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials and a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale). Additionally, he must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing (true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.

The first-team all-district selections then were added to the ballot for Academic All-America® honors, and the national team was determined by a vote of members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Committee as well as the CoSIDA Board of Directors.

ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® MEN'S SOCCER TEAM
University Division

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN OF THE YEAR: Simon Ejdemyr, New Mexico

FIRST TEAM
Rylan Hawkins, Washington (Sr., GK, 3.92, Computer Engineering)
Josh Bienenfeld, Duke (Sr., MF, 3.96, Psychology)
Richard Edgar, George Mason (Sr., MF, 3.97, Psychology)
Adam Gross, Charlotte (Sr., MF, 3.66, Business Management)
Simon Ejdemyr, New Mexico (Sr., D, 4.0, Political Science)
Kofi Sarkodie, Akron (So., D, 4.00, Microbiology)
Brian Wurst, Drake (Sr., D, 4.00, Management)
JACOB LAWRENCE, BOWLING GREEN (Sr., D*, 3.93, Interpersonal Communication)
Conner Burt, Butler (Jr., D, 3.97, Marketing)
Zack Schilawski, Wake Forest (Sr., F, 3.57, Biology)
Jason Yeisley, Penn State (Sr., F, 3.61, Management)
Charlie Reiter, Davidson (Sr., F, 3.48, Political Science)
* was still at a defender spot at the time of nomination

SECOND TEAM
Mark Wilber, Georgetown
Jimmy Maurer, South Carolina
J.T. Noone, Temple
Matt Kuhn, Drake
Craig Henderson, Dartmouth
Kyle Davis, Delaware
Patrick Selwood, Bucknell
Bobby Warshaw, Stanford
Matt Eliason, Northwestern
Andrew Wiedeman, California
Mike Luttrull, Evansville

THIRD TEAM
Andrew Kydes, U.S. Military Academy
Michael Thomas, Notre Dame
Ben Zemanski, Akron
Steven Kinney, Elon
Ofori Sarkodie, Indiana
Calvin Clark, Drake
Daniel Bostock, Monmouth
Kilian Poeschk, Tulsa
Sam Arthur, South Carolina
Joe Toulournis, Marist