Nov. 16, 2005

BOSTON, Mass. - For the first time in league history, America East Conference has named All-Academic teams for each of its fall sports. Cross country, field hockey, soccer and volleyball student-athletes have been honored for their achievements athletically and academically. The University of Maine led the conference with thirteen student-athletes named to the America East All-Academic Team on Wednesday.

Maine was represented by Kirby Davis (Falmouth, Maine) and Joshua Trevino (Rochester, N.H.) from men's cross country and Heather Jovanelli (Brewer, Maine) for women's cross country. Three members of the field hockey team were honored as Meagan Connolly (Mahopac, N.Y.), Joanna Fernandes (Mississauga, Ont.) and Shaunessy Saucier (Old Town, Maine) were named to the team. Women's soccer lead Maine with four student-athletes named as Erin Corey (Winslow, Maine), Marie-Michele Bouchard (Beauport, Quebec), Linda Consolante (Beaconsfield, Quebec) and Marie-Andree Canuel (St.-Jean-Chrysostome, Quebec). From volleyball, Shannan Fotter (Riverside, Calif.), Kaili Jordan (Raymore, Saskatchewan) and Shelly Seipp (Spokane, Wash.) represented the Black Bears.

The University of Maine led all member institutions with thirteen student-athletes on the fall all-academic teams combined. Boston University (nine), UMBC (seven), Binghamton (six) and the University of Vermont (five) followed closely behind, while Albany (four), University of Hartford (three), Stony Brook University (three) and University of New Hampshire (one) all boasted all-academic members as well.

The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference's nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league's top athletes that are also quality students.

Each All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete's academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletic accomplishment standards vary between team sports and individual sports. For team sports, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the post-season awards ballot, which is determined by the league's head coaches. For individual sports, student-athletes are required to be a medalist at the conference championship meet. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., 11 on the field for soccer). In the event that the number of student-athletes meeting the requirements is greater than the number that participate in a contest at one time, all-conference vote totals were used as the tie-breaking criteria. Team size for individual sports is determined by the number of all-conference honorees who possess the minimum academic requirement.

For more information on University of Maine athletics, visit www.GoBlackBears.com, or visit www.AmericaEast.com for updated conference news and information.