For the third consecutive year, the University of Kentucky men’s soccer team dominated the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll with 13 student-athletes earning the honor, the league announced. UK topped South Carolina’s 12 honorees.
UK placed one more athlete than last year on this season’s list, with six repeats from 2000. Rob Mayer, Giovanni Fernandes, Ilkka Jantti, Chris McAlpine, Antti Peltonen and Marc Theriault repeated the honor from last season, while Greg Bironas, Craig Pykett, Tyler Cook, Randy Strobo, Chael Soler, Ryan Grady and Jay Riney made the list for the first time. This is the third consecutive honor for Fernandes, Jantti, McAlpine and Theriault, while Cook earned his second.
Earlier this year, Kentucky placed nine players on the Mid-American Conference Academic Honor Roll, second only to Northern Illinois.
With only three SEC institutions sponsoring men’s soccer, the league includes the sport in its annual non-championship sponsored list that covers equestrian, lacrosse, rifle and rowing in addition to men’s soccer. To be eligible for the SEC Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for either the past year or for their career, must be a sophomore or higher in academic classification and must have 24 semester hours countable toward a degree. The 2001-02 list is based on academic credentials from the 2000-01 academic year.