Tuesday, November 08, 2011

MACON, Ga. – Four Atlantic Sun Conference men’s soccer players were named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-District ® Men’s Soccer Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

All four selections are members of the District 4 First Team: Stetson University teammates Luis Ocejo and Joakim Helland, Mercer University’s William Betts and University of South Carolina Upstate’s Timo Foerster. All four were also members of the A-Sun Academic All-Conference Team.

Ojeco, the 2011 A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, started 17 games on the season for the Hatters, finishing fifth on the team in minutes with 1,619 while recording two goals and two assists. From his defender position he also helped Stetson to six shutouts on the season, including four in conference play.

Helland, a senior also majoring in finance started 10 of the 18 games in which he saw action and finished fourth on the team with 19 points on four goals and two assists.

The 2011 Atlantic Sun Scholar Athlete of the Year, Betts set career marks in points (12) and goals (5) in 2011. He currently leads Mercer and ranks tied for 11th in the A-Sun with 12 points, on the strength of five goals and two assists. Betts also paces the Bears with three game-winning goals this season, placing him in a three-way tie for third-most in the conference.

Foerster led the Spartans and currently ranks sixth in the conference with five assists. He also assisted on the game-winning goals against Southern Wesleyan and Lipscomb. Carrying a 3.96 GPA as an accounting major, Foerster has earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in four of the six semesters he has completed at USC Upstate. He is a three-time member of the A-Sun All-Academic team and is an A-Sun Conference Scholar.

The Academic All-District ® teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the first year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moves from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and doubles the number of scholar-athletes honored.

The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

The teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One became the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA’s Academic All-America teams programs in 2011. First-team Academic All-District ® honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an NCAA Division I league with 10 member institutions committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun meets the challenge of maintaining the highest standards in academic and athletic achievement with a true balance between student and athlete. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.