April 4, 2005

Cleveland, Ohio - Old Dominion University junior forward Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) has been selected as one of 20 student athletes to the Third Annual Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Teams as announced this week by the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA). Loughton was also selected to the team last year.

In addition to earning CAA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP honors, Loughton was named to the CAA's All-Academic squad for the second straight year and to the first team CoSIDA District III All-Academic squad. He carries a 3.42 grade point average in business marketing.

Loughton helped lead the Monarchs to the school's first CAA Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997. In leading ODU to its best single season record ever at 28-6, Loughton averaged 14.1 points per game and ranked second in the CAA at 8.2 rebounds per game. He had 13 double-doubles including 28 points and 11 rebounds in the CAA finals, and 22 points, 11 rebounds in the NCAA first round game against Michigan State. Loughton also earned Virginia Player of the Year honors by the RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH, NABC First team All-District IV honors, and honorable mention All-American honors by the ASSOCIATED PRESS and BASKETBALL TIMES.

"We are very proud of these outstanding student-athletes," says Pat Meiser-McKnett, chair of the Division I-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team Selection Committee and athletics director at the University of Hartford. "They represent the best of Division I-AAA." Basketball players from all Division I-AAA ADA member institutions are eligible for these prestigious awards. Each of the nominees were required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) in undergraduate study and have been a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletics credentials. He/she must have reached sophomore athletics and academic standing at the nominated institution and have completed a minimum of one full academic year at the nominated institution. He/she must also have participated in 50 percent of the games played at his/her designated position.

Additionally, from the Scholar-Athlete teams, one male and female student-athlete were selected as the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Receiving the women's honor was Tiffany Mor, a senior at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, with a 3.77 GPA in elementary education and Spanish; while the men's award went to Drake Diener, a senior DePaul University, with a 3.42 GPA in secondary education.

Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Teams
Men's Scholar-Athlete Team
Name Institution Year GPA Major
Drake Diener DePaul Senior 3.42 Secondary Education
Andreas Gahlmann Portland Senior 3.80 Biochemistry
Rob Kampman Wichita State Senior 3.41 Sports Administration
Alexander Loughton Old Dominion Junior 3.42 Business Marketing
Sean Mallon Gonzaga Soph. 3.28 Political Science
Christian Maraker Pacifice Junior 3.46 Sport Sciences
Shema Mbyirukira Birmingham Southern Senior 3.55 Computer Science/Accounting
Matt Rohde Wisconsin Green Bay Senior 3.41 Mathematics
Luke Spencer-Gardner Oral Roberts Senior 3.76 Biology/Health Exercise Science
Chet Stachitas St. Joseph's Junior 3.20 Finance
Women's Scholar-Athlete Team
Name Institution Year GPA Major

Ashley Bush Seton Hall Senior 3.59 Psychology
Whitney Cave Siena Junior 3.79 Mathematics/Computer Science
Carolyn Kieger Marquette Junior 3.60 Broadcasting
Mary Jane Kreuger San Francisco Graduate 3.97 Sociology/English
Tyler McIlwraith St. Louis Soph. 3.89 Early Childhood Education
Tiffany Mor Wisconsin Green Bay Senior 3.77 Elementary Education/Spanish
Genny Mueller Bradley Senior 3.85 Health Sciences/Spanish
Jenna Rubino DePaul Soph. 3.56 Undecided
Toni Russell San Francisco Senior 3.68 Sociology
Laura Spanheimer Creighton Senior 3.69 Exercise Science
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