Men's At-Large Teams
Women's At-Large Teams
TOWSON, Md. – For the second consecutive year, a record five Alaska student-athletes were named Thursday to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-District® At-Large Teams in a vote by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
CoSIDA members nominate student-athletes from their respective institutions and vote for a top-10 from their region based on a combination of athletic performance as well as academics.
The five Nanooks, all juniors, are spread out amongst three separate District 8 teams, which are comprised of all schools in the NCAA West Region. They are hockey junior
Sean Cahill (Calgary, Alberta/Business Administration), rifle juniors
Ryan Anderson (Great Falls, Va./Biological Sciences) and
Mats Eriksson (Malung, Sweden/Business Administration), junior swimmer
Danielle Lyons (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan/Biological Sciences) and junior skier
Alyson McPhetres (Chugiak, Alaska/Foreign Language and Geological Engineering).
Three student-athletes are repeat honorees from last year in Anderson, Lyons and McPhetres, while Cahill and Eriksson are being presented with the accolade for the first time. Cahill was placed on the Region 8 Division I men's team and Anderson and Eriksson were tabbed to the Division II men's team while Lyons and McPhetres were put on the Division II women's team.
Cahill, who started the most games in goal for the Nanooks this past hockey season, boasts a 3.97 cumulative grade-point average and is currently studying business administration. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association Scholar-Athlete and All-Academic Team honoree went 10-6-1 in his 17 starts for Alaska to help it finish third in its first season in the WCHA. He wrapped up his junior year with a 2.40 goals against average and a .900 save percentage (367/408) while earning a seven-game win streak during the second half of the conference season.
Anderson, who holds a 3.92 GPA while studying biological sciences, was a Capital One Academic All-District® Team and Second Team Academic All-America® member as a sophomore in 2013. This past season, he placed fourth in the air rifle match at the NCAA Championships and won the Patriot Rifle Conference smallbore championship while taking runner-up in air gun. He was a 2014 National Rifle Association First Team All-America selection in both smallbore and air rifle and also took home Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association First Team All-America honors. Just one day ago, Anderson also secured a spot for the International Shooting Sport Federation World Championship after finishing third in the air rifle match at the USA Shooting World Championship Selection match in Fort Benning, Ga.
Eriksson possesses a 3.96 GPA while studying business administration and was the recipient of the Elite 89 Award at the 2014 NCAA Rifle Championships. He finished 25th in the smallbore competition at the NCAA Championships and took home fifth in air rifle and 11th in smallbore at the PRC Championships. Following the season, Eriksson was named a NRA First Team All-American in smallbore and Second Team honoree in air rifle while also being placed on the CRCA All-America Second Team. During the offseason, Eriksson has been shooting for the Swedish National Team, most recently at the 2014 ISSF World Cup USA in Georgia.
Lyons, a 3.95 student majoring in biological sciences, was named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-District® Team as a sophomore. This season, Lyons returned to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships where she was a two-time All-American in the 200 and 800 freestyle relays. A Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference All-Academic Team member, she earned All-Conference in the 400 individual medley and 800 free relay at the 2014 conference meet. A 2013 College Swimming Coaches Association of America Honorable Mention Scholar All-American in 2013, she now has five All-America accolades and seven All-Conference honors for her career.
McPhetres, who runs and skis for the Nanooks, has a 3.91 GPA with a double major in foreign language and geological engineering. Last year she was named to the Capital One Academic All-District® Team and was later honored on the Academic All-America® Third Team. This past season, McPhetres was an All-Region skier after placing 10th in the mass start event at the NCAA Central Region Championships while taking 12th in the classic race. She also crossed the finish line in ninth place in both races at the Central Collegiate Ski Association Championships as a junior. A 2013 NCAA Championships qualifier, McPhetres topped the podium in both NCAA Central Region races a year ago.
All five Nanooks now advance to the national ballots to determine this year's Capital One Academic All-America® At-Large Teams, where first-, second- and third-teams will be selected June 4 and 5.
For more information, contact
Chris Brooks at
cpbrooks@alaska.edu.
