Each of 91短视频鈥檚 sports was represented on the ODAC All-Academic Team except for men鈥檚 volleyball, which competes in the Continental Volleyball Conference.聽 The CVC will also release an all-academic team later this summer.

The full ODAC All-Academic Team eclipsed 1,000 student-athletes for the sixth consecutive year and set a new high-water mark for conference honorees for the third year in a row.聽 With representatives from each of the 17 ODAC institutions (including Catholic University for football only, Greensboro College and Notre Dame of Maryland University for swimming only, and Shenandoah University for field hockey and track & field only), 1,350 student-athletes earned recognition on the 2011-12 ODAC All-Academic Team.

Eligibility for the ODAC All-Academic Team is open to any student-athlete that competes in a conference-sponsored sport, regardless of academic class.聽 He or she must achieve at least a 3.25 grade point average for the year to be considered for an ODAC All-Academic Award.

For more information, visit the ODAC鈥檚 home on the Internet at聽. 聽Don鈥檛 forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook (click聽) and follow聽聽on Twitter.

The entire list of Royals named to the ODAC All-Academic Team is listed below.聽 to see the full list of the ODAC All-Academic Team.

Nels Akerson – Cross Country
Elizabeth Alderfer – Cross Country
Laura Beckler – Women’s Soccer
Bradley Billings 鈥� Baseball
Jennifer Blankenship – Women’s Basketball
Rachel Breeden 鈥� Softball
Carol Brinkley – Field Hockey
Bethany Crouse – Women’s Soccer
Mary Beth Danaher – Field Hockey
Jenessa Derstine – Field Hockey
Erica Detweiler – Women’s Soccer
Allison Eanes – Cross Country
Katie Eckman – Cross Country
Ryan Eshleman – Men’s Soccer
Jonathan Estrada 鈥� Baseball
Daniel Friesen – Men’s Soccer
Lynae Fry – Women’s Volleyball
Jessica Goertzen – Women’s Volleyball
Naomi Good – Women’s Soccer
Bethany Hench – Field Hockey
Brooke Hensley 鈥� Softball
Jordan Hollinger – Men’s Soccer
David Hooley – Men’s Soccer
Phillip Jordan 鈥� Baseball
Rachel Kennel – Women’s Soccer
Justin King 鈥� Baseball
Lanae Kreider – Women’s Soccer
Valerie Landis – Field Hockey
Mattie Lehman – Women’s Volleyball, Softball
Owen Longacre – Men’s Basketball
Jenna Longenecker – Field Hockey
Becca Longenecker – Field Hockey
Mark Mast – Men’s Soccer
Thomas Millary – Cross Country, Track & Field
Michelle Miller – Women’s Soccer
Katarina Napfel 鈥� Softball
Peter Nelson – Cross Country
Cara Paden – Women’s Soccer, Track & Field
Jesse Parker – Cross Country, Track & Field
Stephanie Rheinheimer – Women’s Basketball
Andy Richter 鈥� Baseball
Sara Ritchie – Women’s Volleyball
Bryce Shank – Men’s Soccer
Jacob Shank – Men’s Soccer
Amber Shelly – Women’s Soccer
Aaron Sloan – Track & Field
Kayla Smeltzer – Women’s Volleyball
Raquel Stoltzfus – Women’s Soccer
Scotty Tiosso – Men’s Soccer
Jon Trice 鈥� Baseball
Keri Weaver – Cross Country
Kori Wenger – Women’s Soccer
Taylor Wenger – Women’s Soccer
Camille Williams – Field Hockey
Roberto Wingfield – Cross Country
Bianca Ygarza – Women’s Basketball
Andrew Yoder – Men’s Soccer
Marla Young – Women’s Basketball
Kelsey Zook – Women’s Soccer
Michelle Zook – Field Hockey
Marla zumFelde – Women’s Basketball

Athletic Director Dave King led the evening.

鈥淭his has become a tradition聽that helps us get the school year off to a good start,鈥� said King.聽 鈥淚t is really exciting to have all the athletes together and sense the anticipation and hope of a new year.聽 It provides freshmen athletes an opportunity to understand that they are part of something much larger than their own team.聽 It also gives us an opportunity to connect the athletic department to the rest of the university.鈥�

Ron Stoltzfus, the Faculty Athletics Representative, was one of the speakers to the approximately 200 student-athletes.聽 91短视频 President Loren Swartzendruber also spoke.

鈥淚t is a humbling experience to recognize how many lives we, as athletic staff and an entire campus community, will have the opportunity to impact through our relationships with them on and off the field,鈥� King said afterwards.聽 鈥淕athering together helps build a bond between players on each team as well as between other sports teams.鈥�

King introduced each coach and staff person to the students after recognizing the players by team.聽 As part of his talk, he helped student-athletes understand the expectations the school has for them, and he also introduced a brief set of guidelines for 91短视频 athletes.

Daniel Leake from Special Olympics Virginia also talked to the gathering.聽 The NCAA and D-III are making specific efforts to join with Special Olympics around the country, and Leake pointed out that 91短视频 and the rest of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference have been leading the way in building those relationships already.

鈥淚t was great to have Daniel, the local coordinator, with us to represent their programming and talk about ways in which our athletes can become involved,鈥� King said.聽聽鈥淲hile the men’s basketball teams have been involved in the past, I am excited about聽getting additional聽athletes and teams involved locally.鈥�

Andy Richter (Perkasie, PA/Christopher Dock), a senior of the baseball team, spoke to his peers about 91短视频鈥檚 chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and then also closed the program with a prayer of dedication for the year.

After the students were each given an 91短视频 t-shirt, a group photo was taken with President Swartzendruber and everyone enjoyed pizza.

King said the photo was a fitting way to end the night.

鈥淲e hope that the photo will be a constant reminder to athletes, parents, faculty and staff of the great potential these students bring to the school year,鈥� he said.