Western's Takahashi, Brock's McGurk named to Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Men’s At-Large Team
AUSTIN, TEXAS – Senior Nicolas Pinones-Haltenhoff, a tennis player from Auburn University Montgomery, and senior Christine Tixier, a swimmer from Biola University, headline the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Men's and Women's At-Large Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division At-Large Teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
Pinones-Haltenhoff was named the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year for the College Division Men's At-Large program while Tixier was selected as the Academic All-America® of the Year for the College Division Women's At-Large squad.
The at-large program for the Capital One Academic All-America® program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo for both men and women; bowling, crew and field hockey for women; and volleyball and wrestling for men.
A native of Barcelona, Spain, Pinones-Haltenhoff has excelled both on and off the court for the Warhawks. The biology/pre-med major sports a 4.00 G.P.A. and is making his third appearance on the first team. Additionally, he was also named the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year for the College Men's At-Large program in 2013.
Pinones-Haltenhoff earned NAIA All-America first team honors four times during his career and captured the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year award three times. Pinones-Haltenhoff finished his senior season at Auburn Montgomery with an 18-3 record in singles play and went 18-4 in doubles. The Warhawks went 21-6 this season and advanced to the semifinal round of the NAIA National Championship.
Hailing from Benton City, Washington, Tixier is making her third appearance on the squad, having made the second team the previous two years. A human biology major, Tixier carries a 3.82 G.P.A and is a two-time Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
Tixier helped the Biola women's swimming & diving team to a seventh-place finish at the NAIA National Championship. Twice named the NAIA Women's Swimmer of the Year, Tixier won three NAIA individual titles and set three national records in the 100 butterfly, the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley relay at this year's championships. In all, she won the national title in the 100 butterfly all four years during her career. Tixier tallied eight individual national championships throughout her time at Biola.
Senior Josh Karel of Morningside College is the only other repeat honoree on the men's first team. The Spanish teaching major from Lincoln, Nebraska, holds a 3.78 G.P.A. and made the first team in 2014 and second team in 2013. Karel set a school-record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:12.97 this season.
Joining Pinones-Haltenhoff and Karel on the men's first team are: Jacob Anderson of Olivet Nazarene University, Dominique Blonski of Hope International University, Nick Lynch and Luke Staudt of Saint Ambrose University, Mike McGurk of Brock University, Jamie Sanchez-Canamares Rios of Embry-Riddle (Fla.) University, Steven Takahashi of Western University, and Mark Zubov of University of St. Francis (Ill.).
Junior Deni Zmak of Embry-Riddle is the only repeat member on the men's second team. The software engineering major from Pula, Croatia, holds a 3.42 G.P.A. and landed on the first team in 2014. He helped the Eagles to a runner-up finish at the NAIA National Championship and earned NAIA All-America first team honors.
The rest of the men's second team consists of Matthew Cheung of Oklahoma City University, Gelawdiyos Hile of Southeastern University, Thommy Johansson of the University of Northwestern Ohio, Ian Jones of the Apprentice School, Cédric McNicoll of McGill University, Brad Miller of Lourdes University, Andrew Nelson of Oklahoma Baptist University, Simon Pheasant of Olivet Nazarene, and Tyler Wills of Clarke University.
There were five student-athletes with a G.P.A. of 4.0 on the men's at-large team. The first team boasts a combined G.P.A. of 3.92, while the second team has a combined G.P.A. of 3.72. The overall G.P.A. for this year's team is 3.82.
In addition to Tixier, there are five repeat honorees on the women's first team. Senior Lauren Allard of Indiana Tech, senior Hannah Hecht of Morningside, and senior Kamie Rash of Kansas Wesleyan University each made the first team in 2014, while senior Audri Swisher of Morningside received second team honors last year. Senor Emma Wynja of Northwestern (Iowa) College is making her third appearance on the squad after collecting second team honors in 2013 and first team honors in 2014.
An energy engineering major with a 3.96 G.P.A. from Plymouth, Michigan, Allard was also named to the National Women's Lacrosse League academic team as a midfielder for Indiana Tech. She tied for third on the team with 49 points, notching 35 goals and dishing out 14 assists for the Warriors, who went 11-8 in 2015.
Hecht is an English major from Lansing, Kansas, and sports a 3.97 G.P.A. She posted Morningside's best individual finish at the NAIA National Championship with a 19th-place showing in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:15.27. Hecht also earned Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
A graduate student from Syracuse, Kansas, Rash is seeking her MBA at Kansas Wesleyan and holds a 3.95 G.P.A. A Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete honoree, Rash is her program's first-ever national qualifier for the NAIA Women's Golf National Championship. She posted a three-round score of 244 to finish 68th overall.
Swisher is a biology and chemistry double major from Spearfish, South Dakota, and boasts a 4.00 G.P.A. She finished her career at Morningside as the program's winningest women's tennis player with 87 combined singles and doubles victories. She also holds the mark for most career doubles wins with 47. Swisher is a back-to-back All-Great Plains Athletic Conference Team selection.
Owning a 4.00 G.P.A. and hailing from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Wynja is a biology/health professions and chemistry major. She led the Northwestern women's golf team with an 84.4 scoring average and placed fourth overall in the 72-hole, GPAC Championship. Wynja posted three top-five finishers and placed in the top 10 in all seven events this season. She earned All-GPAC Team honors four times.
Making up the rest of the women's first team are Kristen Brimage of Oklahoma Baptist, Lori Haas of Purdue University Calumet, Samantha Leanza of Concordia (Calif.) University, and Leigh Smith of Oklahoma City.
Receiving second team honors are Megan Carlson of Morningside, Kelsey Chow of Taylor University, Hui-I Huang of Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Lexie Keller of Oklahoma Baptist, Angela Kirschner of Biola, Jessica Lemcke of Davenport University, Jessica Locker of Northwestern, Alexis Quinn of Southeastern, Wiebke Schlender of Indiana Tech, Sydney VanHoose of Siena Heights University, and Katie-Lee Wilson of Oklahoma City.
Source: CoSIDA
