May 22, 2003

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville University sophomore Ben Birkmann (Bremen, Germany) was voted to the Verizon Academic All-America District III At-Large Second-Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and announced Thursday by the district coordinator. District III is made up of all Division I schools in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. To be eligible for Academic All-District recognition, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher. The at-large team represents student-athletes in NCAA sports other than baseball, basketball, soccer, football and track/cross country.

Birkmann, who earned All-Atlantic Sun First-Team honors, led the Dolphins to a 10-13 record and the No. 8 seed in the A-Sun Men's Tennis Championship. Birkmann finished the season with a 25-7 mark at No. 1 singles and teamed with fellow sophomore Christoph Mueller (Waldsassen, Germany) for a 25-7 record at No. 1 doubles. Birkmann and Mueller pulled off some of the biggest upsets in JU history when they reached the semifinals at the ITA Region III Indoor Championship en route to earning the No. 32 doubles ranking in the country by the ITA.

Birkmann, who has a perfect 4.0 grade point average in Finance, has earned President's List honors with a 4.0 GPA four-straight semesters, in addition to earning honorable mention all-conference and all-freshman honors last season.

2003 Verizon University Division Academic
All-District III At-Large Squad
First Team
Shilo Ayalon, Georgia Tech; Swimming
Adam Britt, VMI; Wrestling
James Cameron, Furman; Tennis
Patrick Diaz, James Madison; Wrestling
Ulrich Ebensperger, Georgia Southern; Tennis
Art Kulans, George Mason; Volleyball
Troy Matteson, Georgia Tech; Golf
Stephen Mohr, North Carolina; Swimming
Pedro Nieto, VCU; Tennis
Zach Wilcox, Florida; Diving

Second Team
Calle Andren, East Carolina; Golf
Ben Birkmann, JU; Tennis
Arnaud Caffin, Coastal Carolina; Tennis
Matt Hendrix, Clemson; Golf
Ian Prichard, Virginia; Swimming
Thomas Rappold, Jr., Clemson; Swimming
Scott Schultz, Florida; Swimming
Richard Treis, North Carolina; Golf
Camillo Villegas, Florida; Golf
Brent Wanner, Wake Forest; Golf