Tusculum’s Simon Holzapfel becomes three-time Academic All-America

TOWSON, Md. - Tusculum College's Simon Holzapfel has been named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® Men's College Division Cross Country/Track & Field First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Holzapfel becomes the first Tusculum student-athlete in school history to earn Academic All-America® three times. He has earned First Team honors in each of the last two seasons (2010 & 2011) and was a Third Team selection in 2009.

Holzapfel, a native of Nuremburg, Germany, graduated from Tusculum last month with a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average while majoring in Sports Science.

Earlier this month, he was named the 2010-2011 recipient of the South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award the most prestigious honor the conference awards to its student-athletes. It exemplifies the finest combined qualities of excellence in athletics, academics and community leadership. Holzapfel became the fifth Tusculum student-athlete in school history to earn the SAC Presidents Award and the first men's cross country runner in the 22-year history of the honor to be recognized.

He is the two-time SAC Runner of the Year (2009 & 2010) and has won 16 individual titles during his storied 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 has 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. He is also three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District IV First Team selection.

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 was also a recipient of the 2010 Alpha Chi Academic Excellence Award.

Holzapfel was honored this past November with the James E. Ward Outstanding Major award from the Tennessee Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, becoming the first Tusculum student to receive the statewide award. Earlier this year, he was one of three college students selected nationwide to serve as delegates to the Alliance Assembly, the governing body of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD).

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 peer tutor, resident assistant, 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.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. 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.

2011 Capital One Academic All-America®
College Division Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Team
As Selected by CoSIDA

FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

THIRD TEAM

Capital One Academic All-American of the Year: Bobby Torphy, Muhlenberg
(1) Capital One Academic All-America 1st team selection in 2010 # Capital One Academic All-America 3rd team in 2009
(2) Capital One Academic All-America 2nd team selection in 2010
(3) Capital One Academic All-America 3rd team selection in 2010