May 16, 2013

Three earn Academic All-District

GROVE CITY, Pa. – Three Grove City College student-athletes earned First Team Academic All-District Division III At-Large Thursday afternoon from Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Senior swimmer Eric Fairchild (Corry, Pa./Corry) and senior tennis player Caleb Fuller (Columbus, Ind./Homeschooled) both earned First Team Men's At-Large recognition. Senior swimmer Angela Palumbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) captured First Team Women's At-Large honors.

All three advance to the respective nationwide Academic All-America ballots.

Fairchild concluded his career as a four-time First Team All-Presidents' Athletic Conference performer for Grove City. He won the 50 free and 100 free at the 2013 conference championships and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100 free.

Fairchild ranks fourth all-time at Grove City in both the 100 and 200 free and fifth in the 50 free. He helped the Wolverines win three conference titles during his career and also co-captained the 2012-13 squad.

A 2012 Academic All-District selection, Fairchild has compiled a 3.77 grade-point average as a mathematic major. He is a Dean's List honoree and has been named to the conference's Academic Honor Roll.

Fuller earned his third Academic All-District citation after helping lead Grove City to the conference title and a berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament. He compiled an 11-5 record at first doubles and a 10-5 mark at second singes this year. Fuller won conference crowns in doubles play in each of his four seasons and finished runner-up at second singles in both his junior and senior season.

He captured First Team Academic All-District in 2012. As a sophomore, Fuller merited College Division Academic All-District Second Team honors.

An economics major, Fuller has recorded a 3.92 cumulative GPA at Grove City. He is a Dean's List honoree who has also earned placement on the conference's Academic Honor Roll. Fuller also earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Student-Athlete award.

Palumbo concluded her career as a 21-time NCAA Division III All-American. She earned All-America honors in the 100 free, 200 free, 400 medley relay and all three free relays in March at the NCAA Division III Championships. Her efforts helped Grove City place ninth in the team standings, which marks the program’s best-ever finish at the national championships.

Palumbo owns school records in the 100 free, 200 free and all five relay events. She helped lead the Wolverines to four straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships. Palumbo earned the conference’s Most Valuable Performer award in 2012 and 2013.

A mathematics major, Palumbo earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2012. She owns a 3.76 cumulative GPA and has been named to the Dean's List and the conference's Academic Honor Roll.

Earlier this month, Palumbo became the first two-time recipient of the College's Sportswoman of the Year award.  

Eleven Grove City student-athletes have earned CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition during the 2012-13 academic year. Thirteen Grove City performers earned Academic All-District in 2011-12.

The 2012-13 academic year marks the second year that CoSIDA has based its Academic All-America program on individual divisions within college athletics. Currently, CoSIDA honors student-athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, along with a "College" division that includes NAIA institutions and junior colleges.

Grove City is now part of District IV for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program. District IV includes all of the NCAA Division III programs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

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