Eleven UMBC Student-Athletes Selected to America East Winter All-Academic Teams

Eleven UMBC student-athletes were selected to the America East winter all-academic teams, the conference announced Wednesday, tying Boston University for most in the league.
Men’s swimming and diving led the way with four team members selected: seniors Adam Blais (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) and Geza Szabo (Szolnok, Hungary/Ady Endre Gimnazium), junior Tim Conway (Brick, N.J./Brick Township Memorial) and sophomore Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson). Blais was on the winning 800-free relay team and the second-place 200- and 400-free relays at the America East Championships in February, while Szabo took silver in both the 100- and 200-fly and 400-medley relay and bronze in the 200-medley relay. Conway placed second in the 50-free and was on the second-place 200- and 400-free relay teams and third-place 200-medley relay, while Auchter took third in the 100-breast and 200-medley relay and second in the 400-medley relay.
Men’s indoor track and field placed three athletes on the all-academic squad: seniors Adam Grossman (Baltimore, Md./Pikesville) and Aaron Smith (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) and sophomore Aaron James (Glen Dale, Md./Duval). Grossman won the 55-meter dash and placed third in the 200-meter dash at the America East Championships in February, while Smith was on the winning distance medley team and James won the 55-meter hurdles.
Men’s basketball and women’s indoor track and field each placed two Retrievers on their respective squads. Senior Jerrell Dinkins (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and sophomore Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) represent the men’s basketball team, while juniors Jenelle Wilson (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) and Francine Ward (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) represent women’s indoor track and field.
Dinkins was second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and third with 11.9 points per game, and those stats ranked eighth and 13th, respectively, in the America East. Hodges was second on the team and 11th in the conference in scoring with 11.8 ppg.
Wilson won the 400-meter dash, placed second in the 200-meter dash and was on the second-place 4×400-meter relay at the America East Championships, while Ward took silver in the 500-meter dash and was also on the second-place 4×400-meter relay.
With its 11 winter all-academic team members, UMBC tied with Boston University for most in the conference. Binghamton University (seven), University of New Hampshire (seven) and University of Maine (six) followed closely behind. University at Albany (five), Stony Brook University (four) and University of Vermont (two) also boasted all-academic members as well.
This marks the first time the America East has named All-Academic teams for each of its winter sports. The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.
Each All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletic accomplishment standards vary between team sports and individual sports. For team sports, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the post-season awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. For track and field and swimming and diving, student-athletes are required to be a top-three finisher at the conference championship meet. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., five on the court for basketball).
In the event that the number of student-athletes meeting the requirements is greater than the number that participate in a contest at one time, all-conference vote totals were used as the tie-breaking criteria. Team size for individual sports is determined by the number of all-conference honorees who possess the minimum academic requirement.