Three Wingate Student-Athletes Earn Academic All-District Honors

Wingate, N.C.----Three Wingate University student-athletes have earned Academic All-District III honors, as selected by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America). Volleyball senior outside hitter Lindsay Hinson (Tallahassee, Fla.) and football student-athletes Darrell Nicholson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Tony Tofanelli (Peachtree City, Ga.) each earned first team all-district honors in their respective sports.

The members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (by districts) selected the teams. The first-team volleyball and football members will now be considered for Academic All-America® honors.

The District III College Division consists of all-non NCAA Division I colleges and universities in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or a significant reserve on his or her team.

Lindsay Hinson
Hinson earns Academic All-District III first team honors for the second year in a row. Hinson has a perfect 4.00 GPA in Biology. She earned Academic All-America®, third team honors in 2002. A four-year starter, Hinson was named the South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete for volleyball two years in a row.

A two-year team captain, Hinson has earned SAC "player of the week" honors twice in her career (once in 2002 and once in 2000). This year, Hinson and her teammates won the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in school history.

In 2003, Hinson compiled a .245 hitting percentage. She was second on the team in service aces per game (0.31) and digs per game (2.93). Wingate was 24-8 overall in 2003.

Hinson has been a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) leadership team for four years. She is the co-chair of the Wingate University Student-Athlete Advisory Council. She earned the Ann Hancock Scholarship in the spring of 2003.

Darrell Nicholson
A four-year starter at linebacker, Nicholson earned the Charlotte Touchdown Club scholarship in December of 2002. In 2003, Nicholson had 62 tackles (fourth on the team), four tackles for losses, two sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one interception.

Nicholson returned a fumble 76 yards for a touchdown against North Greenville College (Sept. 20, 2003). He had a season-high nine tackles in the North Greenville game. Nicholson had an outstanding season for the Bulldogs in 2002, finishing third on the team in total tackles with 77. He was also tied for the 2002 team lead in interceptions with three.

Tony Tofanelli
Tofanelli starts on the defensive line for the Bulldogs, in addition to serving as Wingate's starting long snapper. Thanks to Tofanelli's hard work, Wingate University junior punter Chris Brewer leads the South Atlantic Conference in punting with 42.3 yards per punt in 2003. Brewer's net punting average (38.1) also leads the SAC.

On the Bulldog defensive line, Tofanelli ranks second on the team in sacks with six. He is tied for third on the team in tackles for losses with 5.5. He is 11th on the team tackle charts with 33. He had three tackles and three sacks in a win at Davidson (Aug. 30, 2003).

In 2002, Tofanelli helped Wingate punter Richard Straup earn Daktronics All-Region honors. Tofanelli was invited to join an elite junior chemistry research project team at Wingate University in 2003.