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LeDuc, Rickett Named to America East All-Academic Team
Nov. 13, 2008
ORONO, Maine-- University of Maine men's soccer players Kyle LeDuc (Topsham, Maine) and Alex Rickett (Northville, Mich.) were each named to the 2008 America East Men's Soccer All-Academic Team which was announced on Thursday afternoon. Vermont led the conference as four Catamounts were selected to the team, while Maine and Albany tied for second, each having two student-athletes honored. LeDuc is a senior majoring in financial economics with a minor in business. On the field, he started all 17 games for the Black Bears and his 1,577 minutes played were second on the team. He helped solidify Maine's defense which allowed 19 fewer goals this season than it did during the 2007 campaign. LeDuc has been named a Maine Scholar-Athlete *Rising Star* and also named to the America East Academic Honor Roll. He has also been named to the Dean's List. Rickett is a sophomore economics major. He was one of just two sophomores honored and his 3.79 GPA was the highest of any student-athlete honored. Rickett played in all 17 games for the Black Bears during the 2008 season and finished second on the team in scoring with two goals and one assists for five points. He scored both of his goals against Stony Brook as the Black Bears defeated the Seawolves on the road for their first conference road win in 10 years. Rickett earned America East Co-Player of the Week honors for his play at Stony Brook. Rickett has been named a Maine Scholar-Athlete *Rising Star* and also named to the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings, where faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference's nine member institutions decided to honor the league's top student-athletes, whom excel equally in the classroom as they do on the playing field. For the last two academic years, the All-Academic Team has been selected based on a formula. Starting this year, America East has adopted a more objective approach based on feedback from various coaches' groups and administrators and approval by the athletic directors. The process will now resemble the CoSIDA's Academic All-America program. Student-athletes worthy of consideration will now be nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by committee of SIDs, academic advisors and faculty representatives from all nine member institutions.
All-Academic squads for team sports are based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., 11 on the field for soccer). To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team's games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. Freshman are not eligible for consideration. -U-M- |
