Thursday, June 18, 2009

MORAVIAN’ S NATHANIEL TUSSEY NAMED TO ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM

WALTHAM, MA --- Moravian College graduate men’s track athlete Nathaniel Tussey (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown HS) has been named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. 

Tussey, who graduated in 2008 with a 3.49 GPA and a degree in Biology and returned to the school this year as a graduate student maintaining a 3.93 GPA while working towards his MBA, was named the Male Most Outstanding Performer at the 2009 ECAC Division III Outdoor Championships after winning both the 110-meter high hurdle and 400-meter hurdle events and leading the Greyhounds to their second straight ECAC team title.  Tussey finished ninth in both events at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships, and he won both races at the Landmark Conference Championships as Moravian won its second consecutive team title.

Tussey, who was using a medical redshirt to compete in 2009 after missing the outdoor season as a freshman in 2005, earned All-American honors three times in his career, finishing fifth in both events at the 2008 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, and eighth in the 55-meter hurdles at the 2006 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.  Tussey won eight individual and one relay conference title during his career and was a seven-time member of the conference academic honor roll.

Tussey is the 34th ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in Moravian history and the 29th in the last 16 years.

The Academic All-America® Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom.  Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted 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 grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, 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.

The College Division is made up of all the NCAA Division II and III schools in the nation as well as all NAIA schools. Student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools are named to the University Division Teams. District II is made up of schools from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.