Tusculum's Simon Holzapfel Named Academic All-American

TOWSON, Md. -- Tusculum College’s Simon Holzapfel has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field College Division First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Holzapfel earns Academic All-America® for a second straight year and becomes only the fifth Tusculum student-athlete to garner First Team recognition. He also becomes only the third Pioneer to be a two-time Academic All-American®.  He joins former women’s soccer standout Denise Fliesser and football All-American tight end Jarrell NeSmith as the only two-time Academic All-Americans® in school history. Holzapfel was named to the Academic All-America® Third Team last year.

Holzapfel, a 5-5 junior from Nuremberg, Germany, has emerged as one of the premier runners in the nation.  He has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average, majoring in Sport Management and Sport Science.

Holzapfel has enjoyed one of the best seasons ever recorded by a Tusculum harrier, winning five of his six events this past fall.  He won his first five events to start the season, including the South Atlantic Conference Championship with an 8K school-record time of 25:53.96.

The two-time All-SAC First Team honoree finished ninth at the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship, while garnering All-Region honors for the second time in his career.

Holzapfel has shattered the Tusculum Record Book and owns eight of the 10 fastest 8K times in school history, including the seven bests. He has captured 10 individual titles in his career and has been named SAC Runner of the Week on four occasions, including three times this season.

He was named the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete for Men’s Cross Country, becoming the first male runner in school history to earn this award.  He is a two-time recipient of the Duffield Academic Award, which recognizes the TC student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average.  He is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and has been named to the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, the Tusculum Dean’s List, President’s List and the Charles Oliver Gray Honor’s List.

Last month, he was named the recipient of the Tennessee Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (TAHPERD) Outstanding Major Award.

Holzapfel serves as a senator for the Tusculum Student Government Association and is a campus tutor. He is a member of the Tusculum President’s Society, where he serves as student ambassador. He also serves as a resident assistant and is a member of a campus group that works on protecting the environment, recycling and energy saving. He also volunteers at a local nursing home with painting and other projects, and fundraising projects at a local elementary school.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America® honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

2010 ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-America®
College Division Men’s Track & Cross Country Team as selected by CoSIDA
First Team
Name                  School                    GPA
Loren Ahonen          Western State             3.88
Jarrett Arredondo     Worcester Polytechnic     3.72
Aaron Braun           Adams State               3.77
Brian Copley          Nebraska Wesleyan         4.00
John Donkersloot      Hope                      3.90
Orolando Duffus       St. Augustine’s III       3.95
Ricky Flynn           Lynchburg                 3.54
Simon Holzapfel       Tusculum                  4.00
Mark Husted           Colorado School of Mines  3.85
Pat Jager             St. Thomas (Minn.)        3.61
Reuben Mwei           Adams State               3.40
Max Petersen          Augustana (Ill.)          3.98
Bobby Torphy          Muhlenberg                4.00
Paul Wagner           East Stroudsburg          3.80
Todd Wildman          Trinity (Texas)           3.70

Second Team                         
Name                  School                    GPA
Cory Anderson         Taylor                    4.00
Ryan Bertucci         California State-Chico    3.88
Kale Booher           Ohio Wesleyan             3.96
Nick Borchert         Augustana (Ill.)          3.96
Alan Bowsher          Ohio Northern             3.86
Luke Cragg            Adams State               3.80
Sean Daly             Oneonta State             3.73
Steve Dry             Emory                     3.99
Allen Ernst           Missouri Science & Tech.  4.00
Chad Ernst            Wisconsin-River Falls     4.00
Ken Gilkerson         Michigan Tech             3.94
Alex Greenhouse       Emory                     3.65
Garrett Harms         Rensselaer Polytechnic    3.94
Zac Preble            Bemidji State             3.53
Cody Stelzer          Whitworth                 3.50
Greg Tao              Massachusetts Inst. Tech. 3.76
Tim Uher              Wittenberg                3.91
Josh Wilks            Seton Hill                3.90

Third Team                          
Name                  School                    GPA
Shawn Boss            Central Missouri          4.00
Michael Burris        Rose-Hulman               3.91
Christopher Copeland  St. Augustine’s           3.64
Tony Dipre            Allegheny                 3.77
Frank Iwanicki        Rutgers-Camden            3.76
John Kennedy          Gustavus Adolphus         3.98
Bryan Kolacz          Keene State               3.40
Derek Kruse           Grove City                3.92
Jeffrey Minkus        Hope                      3.91
Chris Platano         Willamette                3.94
Aaron Swift           Colorado School of Mines  3.83
Shayn Weidner         Incarnate Word            3.95