Augsburg's Alex Hildebrandt named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America men's soccer team
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MINNEAPOLIS (11/19/08) -- Augsburg College men's soccer players Alex Hildebrandt (JR, St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team for men's soccer, it was announced on Wednesday.
Hildebrandt was named to the third team in the College Division (non-Division I) on a vote of members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Committee. It is the second year in a row that an Augsburg men's soccer player has earned Academic All-America honors; Nick Manders * was named to the second team last year. Hildebrandt is the 21st CoSIDA Academic All-America selection for Augsburg in school history and eighth since 2005.
A defender, Hildebrandt is a finance major with a 3.86 grade-point average. The award is the latest for Hildebrandt, who earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first-team honors on Nov. 3 and All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team honors earlier this week.
Hildebrandt currently stands second on the Augsburg men's soccer team in scoring, with four goals and six assists for 14 points, including one game-winning goal and a penalty-kick goal. In his career at Augsburg (53 games, 51 starts), Hildebrandt has 10 goals and nine assists for 29 points, including three game-winning goals. He is the leader of an Augsburg defense that has allowed just 11 goals this season (0.47 team goals-against-average) with 13 shutouts.
Under fifth-year head coach Greg Holker, Augsburg is 12-3-7 overall, 7-2-1 in MIAC play. In in its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III national tournament, Augsburg is carrying a seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) into a third-round contest at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday (11/22) at 7:30 p.m.
The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program is administered by CoSIDA. Top student-athletes from non-Division I programs, who have already earned Academic All-District first-team honors, are eligible for inclusion on the College Division team. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their current institutions, have a grade-point average above 3.30 (4.0 scale) and have outstanding athletic credentials. The Academic All-America ballot is voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members. Since the program's inception in 1952, COSIDA has bestowed Academic All America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
Also from the MIAC, Concordia College-Moorhead forward Justin Foss (SR, Fargo, N.D.) earned Academic All-America third-team honors. Foss is a psychology major with a 3.58 GPA.
Augsburg College's All-Time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans:
Alex Hildebrandt, men's soccer, 2008 (third team)
Nick Manders *, men's soccer, 2007 (second team)
Andrew Neumann, football, 2006 (second team)
Ryan Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2006 (first team)
Riley Conway, men's track and field/cross country, 2005 (second team)
Mark Matzek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2005 (first team)
Ryan Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2005 (third team)
Darren Ginther, baseball, 2005 (first team)
Brent Peroutka, football, 2001 (second team)
Josh Cagle, wrestling (men's at-large), 2000 (first team)
Brian Jones, wrestling (men's at-large), 2000 (second team)
Josh Cagle, wrestling (men's at-large), 1999 (second team)
Jim Peterson, wrestling (men's at-large), 1999 (second team)
Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1998 (second team)
Ted Schultz, football, 1997 (first team)
Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1997 (second team)
Dan Lewandowski, wrestling (men's at-large), 1997 (second team)
Andrea Haight, softball, 1991 (second team)
Karen Sterner, track and field (women's at-large), 1987 (second team)
Karen Sterner, track and field (women's at-large), 1986 (first team)
Paul Elliot, football, 1981 (only one team selected)
