Two SAC runners named to Capital One Academic All-District teams

TOWSON, Md. - Two South Atlantic Conference men's cross country runners have been named to the Capital One Academic All-District cross country/track & field teams. Tusculum College's Simon Holzapfel was named to the Academic All-District IV first team, while Wingate University's RJ Voetsch was named to Academic All-District III first team. This marks the third straight year Holzapfel has garnered Academic All-District first team honors, while Voetsch is recognized for the first time in his career.

Simon Holzapfel

A native of Nuremburg, Germany, Holzapfel graduated from Tusculum last month with a perfect 4.00 cumulative GPA while majoring in Sport Management and Sport Science. Holzapfel advances to the Academic All-America® ballot, which will be announced later this month. He was named to Academic All-America® first team last season and to the third team in 2009.

He is the two-time South Atlantic Conference Runner of the Year and has won 16 individual titles during his career, including the first six races this past fall. The three-time NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region selection closed his career with a streak of 21 consecutive top-10 finishes, a run that spanned three seasons, including a 10th place finish in his final meet at the NCAA II Southeast Regional, barely missing out on a berth to the national championship.

Holzapfel owns the 12 best 8,000-meter times in school history including his TC-record 8K time of 25:04 at the 2010 SAC Championship, which is also a new league meet mark.

He received many academic honors while at TC, including the prestigious Tusculum President's Award, which is the highest honor bestowed at Tennessee's oldest college, which is celebrating its 217th year.

Holzapfel also earned the Duffield Academic Award three times, which is presented to the TC student-athlete with the highest GPA. He also received the Tusculum Freshman Student-Athlete of the Year Academic Award in 2008 and was a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Dean's List, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List and the Tusculum President's List. He is a recipient of the 2010 Alpha Chi Academic Excellence Award, which is presented to the highest academically ranked junior. He also received the James E. Ward Student Honor Award from the Tennessee Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (TAHPERD).

Holzapfel served as a student ambassador for the Tusculum President's Society and was active in community and campus activities, including serving as a senator with the Tusculum Student Government Association, vice president of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Council, a tutor, the Tusculum Religious Life Center, campus recycling and energy-saving projects, Physical Education and Sports Majors Club and Theatre at Tusculum.

He has volunteered with painting and other projects at a local nursing home and fundraising efforts for a local elementary school and the Tusculum College athletic department. He has also volunteered with the Pioneer Green Team, Tusculum Quality Enhancement Program Committee and the Tusculum Presidential Inauguration.

Members of the Capital One Academic All-District IV team are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), which includes all colleges and universities from Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio and Michigan comprising District IV. The College Division includes all schools in NCAA Division II, III and NAIA.

RJ Voetsch

RJ Voetsch (Evan Mills, N.Y.) ran cross country as a graduate student in 2010, while also serving as freshman dorm manager during his season. During the 2010 campaign, his top times included a 27:49 8K at the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference meet and a 39:02 10K at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional meet. Voetsch has a 3.71 undergraduate GPA and a 3.75 graduate GPA in Sports Management.

In 2009, Voetsch posted a personal-best 10K time of 35:48. He claimed three top 20 finishes the same season. His top career 8K time was a 25:57 at the Wake Forest University Invitational on August 29, 2008. In addition, Voetsch was a four-year letter winner on Wingate's men's swimming team. Voetsch and the Bulldogs won the Bluegrass Mountain Conference (BMC) championship meet three years in a row (2008, 2009, 2010).

Voetsch was a member of the Phi Epsilon Kappa honors fraternity during his time at Wingate. He attended an NCAA leadership conference. In addition, Voetsch served as a tutor and peer mentor. He was also a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity in Union County.

"RJ has been a leader by example at Wingate University," Bulldog head cross country coach Dr. Dennis Johnson says. "He lives the 'total college experience' philosophy of the WU cross country program."

District III (college division) includes all non-NCAA Division I schools (Division II, III and NAIA) in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North and South Carolina. The 10 first team selections advance to the national ballot for 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® honors.

Student-athletes selected for Capital One Academic All-District honors must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. They must possess at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.00 scale). They must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and must have completed at least one full academic year at his or her institution.

2011 CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT III
MEN'S TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
(COLLEGE DIVISION, AS SELECTED BY CoSIDA)

FIRST TEAM

Student-Athlete, School
Lemario Bland, Morehouse
Alex Bonus, Flagler
Kyle Chowhan, Virginia Wesleyan
Kevin Clancy, UNC Pembroke
Christopher Copeland, Saint Augustine's
David Doobin, Washington & Lee
Orolando Duffus, Saint Augustine's
Ramon Gittens, Saint Augustine's
Francis Tinsley, USC Beaufort
RJ Voetsch, Wingate

2011 CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT IV
MEN'S TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
(COLLEGE DIVISION, AS SELECTED BY CoSIDA)

FIRST TEAM

Student-Athlete, School
Kale Booher, Ohio Wesleyan
Simon Holzapfel, Tusculum
John Donkersloot, Hope
Stephen Williams, Oberlin
Jordan Karnes, Heidelberg
Seth Robertson, Heidelberg
Devin O'Neill, Lake Erie
Sharif Kronemer, Ohio Wesleyan
Scott Thomas, Mount Union
Kyle Griffin, Lake Erie