Trio Named To Verizon Academic All-District IV Squad
3/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
March 22, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Three Michigan State student-athletes have been named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-District IV University Division Fall/Winter At-Large team. The district team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated for the team, student-athletes must be a starter or an important reserve and must carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or higher. Members of the team are chosen by a vote of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) within the district. The team consists of athletes from the fall/winter sports of cross country, fencing, gymnastics, ice hockey, rifle, skiing, soccer, swimming, water polo and wrestling.
Senior women's soccer player Ann Cieszkowski (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) earned All-District First-Team honors. She will now appear on the national ballot for the Verizon Academic All-America Fall/Winter At-Large team. Cieszkowski was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (1998, 1999 and 2000), and a three-year letterwinner on defense after transferring from Vanderbilt. Cieszkowski carries a 3.97 GPA in human biology.
Junior cross country runner Ann Somerville (Ironwood, Mich.) and senior men's soccer player John Benoist (St. Louis, Mo.) were selected to the All-District Second-Team. Somerville is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (1999 and 2000), and was named to the Cross Country Coaches Association Academic All-America team in 1999. Somerville earned All-America honors at the 2000 NCAA Championships, after placing 27th - the third-best finish for a Spartan. Somerville holds a 3.82 GPA in kinesiology.
Benoist was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (1998, 1999 and 2000) and a four-year letterwinner for the Spartans. He captained the team as a senior and earned All-Big Ten First-Team honors as a defender in 1999 and 2000. As a junior in 1999, he led MSU with six goals and finished second on team with 13 points. Benoist carries a 3.68 GPA in supply chain management.
