Capital One Division 2 Academic All American At-Large Teams Announced

The Capital One All-American Team was released this week as selected by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America. CoSIDA breaks the U.S. and Canada into 8 geographically-based districts to compile the All-District Teams. All athletes honored with first team All-District status go into consideration for the Academic All-America first, second, and third teams.

Each school’s Sports Information Director nominates athletes, who must have a class standing of sophomore or higher, have a cumulative GPA of 3.3  higher and either be a “varsity starter or key reserve.” Capital One sponsors the All-District and All-America teams. These teams are made up of athletes from across the range of different sports. There are All-District and All-American teams for Division I, Division II, Division III and the College Division (made up of NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools).

The Capital One Academic At-Large team consists of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo, bowling (women), crew (women) and field hockey (women), volleyball (men), and wrestling  (men). The other sports have their own academic all-american teams, while swimming and diving is lumped into the At-Large category. The college division is made up of NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.

Ruben Gimenez, a junior from the University of Bridgeport, and Kristen Day, a junior from Clarion, won the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year Awards. In total, a combination of 25 swimmers and divers were named to the Division II Capital One Academic All-American At-Large teams.

“Gimenez, a junior with a 3.98 G.P.A. as a computer science major, has been named as the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year for the Division II Men’s At-Large program. Day, also a junior and a chemistry major with a 4.00 G.P.A., has been named as the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year for the Division II Women’s At-Large program.

Gimenez is one of four swimmers named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Men’s At-Large first team. He is also one of seven selections who had not previously earned Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Men’s At-Large honors, as the other eight first team selections are repeat honorees.

A native of Burgos, Spain, he won national championships in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100 freestyle at the 2014 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving National Championships, helping the Purple Knights to a fifth- place finish in the team competition, the highest in school history.  He won the 100 breaststroke with a school-record time of 52.73, then added a second national title with a time of 43.49 in the 100 freestyle.

Gimenez added All-American performances in a pair of relays. He swam a leg of the 200 freestyle relay team which captured second place, and also was a member of the third place 400 medley relay, the latter posting a school-record time. All told, he is a three-time individual All-American and has been part of six All-American relay teams.

Gimenez was selected the Men’s Swimmer of the Meet at the 2014 Metropolitan Conference Championships. He won three individual events and swam a leg of three winning relays as Bridgeport took second place.

At the 2013 national championships, Bridgeport took eighth place in the team competition as Gimenez earned All-American honors with a third-place showing in the 50 and 100 freestyle, a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, along with a second place in the 400 freestyle relay and a third place in the 200 freestyle relay.

Day had a stellar year in the pool for Clarion, winning two NCAA Division II individual national titles – one-meter and three-meter diving – and helping her team to a 17th-place finish at nationals. The native of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, opened competition this year at the national championship by setting a new NCAA record, scoring 539.35 points in the three-meter springboard. She won the title by 52.9 points, surpassing the previous national record by 20.35 points. She came back two days later and won her second national title in the one-meter springboard with 497.05, finishing 30 points ahead of the event’s runner-up.

A six-time NCAA Division II All-American, Day was named the 2014 CSCAA NCAA Division II Female Diver of the Year. A three-time Clarion Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Day earned a pair of All-America honors in 2012 (second place in three-meter and fourth place in the one-meter) and in 2013 (third place in the three-meter and fifth place in the one-meter).”

First Team (Men)

• Marko Blazevski – Wingate – 3.84 – Finance
• Luke Calkins – California, San Diego – 3.94 – Mechanical Engineering
• Ruben Gimenez – Bridgeport – 3.98 – Computer Science
• Robbie Swan – Florida Southern – 3.94 – Business

First Team (Women)

• Kristin Day – Clarion – 4.0 – Chemistry
• Valerie Dembny – Wingate – 3.92 – Elementary Education
• Clarissa Enslin – California (PA) – 3.99 – Geology
• Danielle Lyons – Alaska Fairbanks – 3.95 – Biological Sciences
• Kelsey Nuhfer – California (PA) – 3.99 Communication Studies
• Kayla Scott – Wayne State – 3.68 – Psychology

Second Team (Men)

• Alex Bryson – St. Cloud State – 3.85 – Mechanical Engineering
• Christian Larsen – Limestone – 3.94 – Sports Managment
• Kristian Larsen – Wayne State (MI) – 3.43 – Mechanical Engineering
• David McCormick – West Chester – 3.69 – Mathematics
• Reed Miller – Wingate – 3.87 – Finance
• Oscar Pereiro – Bridgeport – 3.38 – Computer Engineering
• Keith Sponsler – Missouri Science & Tech – 3.91 – Nuclear Engineering

Second Team (Women)

• Kristin Diemer – Queens (NC) – 4.0 – Finance
• Emilee Gysegem – Clarion – 4.0 – Business Managment
• Elly Maleski – Wayne St. – 3.86 – Biomedical Engineering Honors
• Allyson Mitidieri – Indiana (PA) – 3.61 – Nutrition / Dietetics

Third Team (Men)

• Karl Burdis – Tampa – 3.86 – Sport & Exercise Science
• Sven Kardol – Grand Valley St. – 3.7 – Physics / Mathematics

Third Team (Women)

• Lisa Bero – Tampa – 3.81 – History/Government & World Affairs
• Anna Pleban – S. Connecticut St – 3.88 – Exercise Science

Click here to view the full Capital One Academic All-American At-Large team.