FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2015
NE-10 Football, Soccer & Volleyball Student-Athletes Land Major Academic Honors
CoSIDA Academic All-America: Football | Soccer | Volleyball
AUSTIN, Texas – Ten Northeast-10 student-athletes from the fall sports of football, soccer and volleyball were recently honored with CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Seven different NE-10 institutions were represented on the CoSIDA Academic All-America teams. Southern New Hampshire led the way with three, followed by Bentley with two, while five other NE-10 institutions (Adelphi, American International, Merrimack, New Haven & Stonehill) each had one.
The conference had two student-athletes land first team honors, four garnered second team accolades, and four more collected third team laurels. The most NE-10 honorees came from the sport of men’s soccer with five total honorees.
All three of Southern New Hampshire’s Academic All-Americans came from men’s soccer led by Jonathan Lupinelli, who notched first team honors for the second straight year. Joining Lupinelli on the men’s soccer team were fellow Penmen Sebastian Stezewski (2nd Team) and Nick Zucco (3rd Team), as well as New Haven’s JP DiTommaso and Merrimack’s Julio Leon Garcia, both third-teamers.
A pair of NE-10 football student-athletes garnered Academic All-America honors as well, including one first team selection. Bentley’s Paul Norris was one of four defensive linemen to land on the first team, while Stonehill’s Anthony Masucci collected second team honors as a defensive back.
Two more NE-10 student-athletes were recognized with the academic honor from women’s soccer. For the second year in a row, Adelphi’s Taylor Groth garnered second team recognition and was joined by American International’s Romina Bell, both landing second team defense accolades.
Most recently, the 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America volleyball team was announced on Wednesday with one member coming from the Northeast-10. Bentley outside hitter Jaci Buscher notched third team plaudits, the first in program history to earn such an honor.
In addition to the 10 student-athletes earning national recognition, eight more NE-10 student-athletes collected CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. Of the 18 from the NE-10 earning District 1 recognition, the most honorees came from football and men’s soccer with six apiece, four more came from women’s soccer, while two came from volleyball.
For more information on the CoSIDA Academic All-America and All-District teams, as well as a full list of all honorees, please click here.
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST-10
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
