TOWSON, Md. – Recent Davidson graduate Demetrios Pagonis and UNCG junior Paul Chelimo were named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country second team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the organization announced Thursday.
Pagonis graduated Magna Cum Laude from Davidson with a degree in chemistry in May, earning a 3.92 grade point average. He will next pursue a doctorate in atmospheric chemistry at the University of Colorado. In track, Pagonis finished with three Southern Conference track titles, six All-SoCon track honors and three school records. He was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team in 2010 in the 10,000-meter run, and ranks as the second-fastest cross country runner in Davidson history.
This past season, the Westminster, Md., native qualified for the NCAA East Region Championship (10,000-meter run) for the first time in his career, and swept the distance events at the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships by taking the gold in both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs. Pagonis also set new school records in both the 5K (14:09.96) and 10K (29:32.58), earned All-SoCon finishes in both the 3K and 5K indoors, and placed on the All-SoCon second team in cross country.
Pagonis is the second men’s track and field/cross country runner from Davidson to be honored as an Academic All-American. Dan Gibson, who was also named to the second team, was the first in 2002.
Pagonis was named to the Academic All-District team as a junior but did not advance to the All-America team. He was tabbed again for the all-district team this past May.
The Davidson athletics program has had at least one student-athlete recognized as an Academic All-American in seven of the past eight years.
UNCG’ Chelimo owns a 3.68 GPA in nursing/public health and his selection marks the 23rd time in UNCG history a Spartan has earned the prestigious Academic All-America honor.
Chelimo’s selection marks the third straight year a Spartan has achieved the honor, as former runner Ashley Schnell won Academic All-America honors the past two seasons. He is the first men's track student-athlete at UNCG to earn Academic All-America honors in program history.
Chelimo, a native of Chebiemit, Kenya, has posted back-to-back national runner-up performances in the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in the 5,000-meter race. Additionally, he has won two straight NCAA East Regional titles in the same event. He posted a time of 13:40.41 in the national championship meet to earn All-America honors in outdoor track for the second straight year. He won his second straight regional crown with a time of 13:49.94, winning the race by more than 10 seconds.
During the indoor track and field season, Chelimo won the Southern Conference Championship in the 3,000-meter race. The title was his sixth league championship in his first two years of completion in both track and field and cross country. He turned in his fastest time of the year in the 3,000-meter distance with a time of 8:06.71 at the Flotrack Husky Classic.
Chelimo was named the SoCon Runner of the Year for the second straight cross country season after winning the SoCon Championships with a time of 23:42.22. He posted the three fastest times in the conference in the 8,000-meter distance. He finished second in the NCAA Southeast Regional, setting a UNCG-program record with a time of 29:36.51. He capped his cross country season with an All-America honor by placing 10th in the NCAA national championship race in Louisville.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 18,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.