LORETTO, Pa. (June 24, 2008) – Saint Francis University senior Ian Butcher (Georgetown, Ontario, Canada / Christ The King) has been named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American for Track & Field / Cross Country, as voted upon by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), it was announced on Monday afternoon.

Butcher has been named to the men’s first team, becoming Saint Francis’ 33rd all-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, and the third Red Flash student-athlete to be so honored during the 2007-08 academic year.

Former SFU men’s soccer player, Bryce Luetzen (Denver, Colorado / Denver Lutheran) was named a second team honoree this past November, and senior-to-be field hockey player Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich. / Saint Phillip) received third team honors earlier this month.

Butcher, who graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in English in May, was named to the men’s first team with a 3.99 grade-point-average (GPA). He is a four-time place finisher at the Northeast Conference Championships, and is the men’s track & field team’s representative on Saint Francis’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He took sixth in the 400-meter dash at the 2008 NEC Indoor Championships, and is a three-time Top-8 finisher in the 500-meter dash at the NEC Indoor Championships. Butcher is a member of both the Saint Francis and Northeast Conference Academic Honor Rolls.
 
The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District and All-America teams are selected through voting by CoSIDA, a 2,000 member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.20 on a scale of 4.0, 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.

CoSIDA selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s track & field/cross country, women’s track & field/cross country, men’s at-large and women’s at-large.

For more information about the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Teams program, visit www.cosida.com.