Ilkka Jantti and Chris McAlpine represented the University of Kentucky on the 2002 Verizon Academic All-America Men’s Soccer Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced on Tuesday. Both UK soccer players earned first-team honors for the first time in their careers.
“Both of these young men are very deserving of this honor,” Coach Ian Collins said. “Throughout their careers, they have exemplified what it means to be a student-athlete, and they have done so in a manner that reflects well not only on our program but on the University of Kentucky as a whole. I could not be prouder of them.”
Jantti, a native of Lahti, Finland, has accumulated a career’s worth of honors this season. He was a National Soccer Coaches Association of America second-team All-American, the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and first-team All-Great Lakes Region. He has been a Southeastern Conference and MAC Academic Honor Roll selection since 1999 and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Honor Society and the Golden Key National Honor Society. For the 2001-02 academic year, Jantti, a finance/management major with a 3.88 grade-point average, serves as the president of the UK Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
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| Senior Chris McAlpine |
McAlpine, a Centerville, Ohio, native, was an NSCAA All-North Central Region Scholar Athlete selection in 2001. He has been a member of the SEC and MAC Academic Honor Rolls since 1999, as well at the UK Dean’s List, the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and the Golden Key Honor Society. McAlpine, who has a 3.93 GPA in finance/economics, has also been inducted into the prestigious UK Society of Character.
UK was one of three schools to have two players selected to the first team, along with SMU and Seton Hall. With UK’s two first-team and Akron’s second-team and third-team selections, the MAC’s four overall members were second only to the Big East’s six.
The Verizon Academic All-America Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800-member CoSIDA. To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a 4.00 scale. Sports information directors nominate eligible athletes from their schools who are named to district teams prior to being voted upon the national level.
As part of an overall expansion of the Verizon Academic All-America program, a men’s soccer team was selected in the University Division for the first time in the history of the program. In the past, men’s soccer players have been a part of an At-Large Team.
2002 Verizon Academic All-America Men’s Soccer Team
University Division First Team
Name
School
Yr.
Hometown
Major
Luchi Gonzalez
SMU
Sr.
Miami, Fla.
Finance
Andrew Hooker
UNLV
Sr.
Victoria, British Columbia
Mechanical Engineering
Anders Hoyem
Northeastern
Sr.
Oslo, Norway
Finance/Insurance
Kentucky
Sr.
Lahti, Finland
Finance/Management
Torsten Knor
Seton Hall
Sr.
Moenchengladbach, Germany
Finance
Aaron Lauber
Wisconsin
Sr.
Franklin, Wis.
Accounting
Kentucky
Sr.
Centerville, Ohio
Finance/Economics
Terry McNelis
Duquesne
Jr.
Reading, Pa.
Physical Therapy
Chris Norbert
Davidson
Sr.
Belleville, Ill.
Biology
Mike Roach
UNC-Asheville
Sr.
Greensboro, N.C.
Chemistry
Gregory Strohmann
Seton Hall
Sr.
Wertheim, Germany
Finance
Diego Walsh
SMU
Jr.
Miami, Fla.
Business
