May 29, 2007

Notre Dame IN- Saint Mary's senior outfielder Eric Cattoni (Lethbridge, Alberta) was named to the ESPN The Magazine All-America Second Team as selected by CoSIDA. Cattoni earns the honor after being named to the District 8 squad. The outfielder is the lone representative from the West Coast Conference.

The Academic All-America program annually honors over 1600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America), a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 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.

On the field, the fleet-footed outfielder led the West Coast Conference with 54 runs scored which ranks second all-time in the SMC single season annals. Cattoni ranked second in the WCC in stolen bases with 28 and his 45 career swipes rank seventh all time at Saint Mary's. He batted .303 in 47 games with three home runs and 15 RBI and added 10 doubles and a team-leading three triples. Cattoni slugged .446 and had a .408 on base percentage.

Cattoni was also named a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Finalists were selected from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. While the on-the-field performance thus far during the college baseball season was a factor in determining the finalists, the criteria also includes a high emphasis on the classroom, character and community service.

The outfielder maintains a 4.0 grade point average while taking pre-med courses. Cattoni was awarded the CRC Press Chemistry Achievement Award for his outstanding scholastic achievement in chemistry. The award was presented by the Taylor and Francis Group. The CRC Press Chemistry Award has been in place for more than 50 years.

First Team
Pos. Name School Year Hometown GPA Major
P Justin Fiske Texas State Sr. College Station, Texas 3.92 Exercise and Sports Science
P Patrick Ezell Southern Mississippi Sr. Petal, Miss. 3.73 History
C Mitch Canham Oregon State Jr. Lake Stevens, Wash. 3.53 Business Administration
INF Jeff Grantham St. John's (N.Y.) Jr. Randolph, N.J. 3.98 Physics
INF Brett Lilley Notre Dame Jr. North Canton, Ohio 3.78 Accounting
INF Trey Sutton Southern Mississippi Jr. Hattiesburg, Miss. 3.75 Business Administration
INF Justin Baum Pacific Jr. La Mesa, Calif. 3.79 Business Administration
INF Erik Huber Eastern Illinois Sr. Belleville, Ill. 3.65 Physical Education
OF Aaron Ivey Oklahoma Sr. Oklahoma City, Okla. 4.00 Energy Management
OF Emeel Salem Alabama Sr. Mountain Brook, Ala. 3.85 Marketing and Spanish
OF Kevin Weidlich Troy Sr. Plano, Texas 4.00 Social Science
DH Josh Yates Arkansas State Sr. San Antonio, Tex. 3.86 Accounting

Second Team
Pos. Name School Year Hometown GPA Major
P Eitan Barbalat Bradley Jr. Thornhill, Ontario 4.00 Cell and Molecular Biology
P Ryne Tacker Rice Sr. Benbrook, Texas 3.55 Kinesiology/Managerial Studies
C Josh Plumaj Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Sr. Missouri City, Texas 4.00 Marketing
INF Josh Stirneman Houston Sr. Cuero, Texas 3.85 Business
INF Bradley Suttle Texas So. Boerne, Texas 3.54 Business
INF Scott Boley Toledo Jr. Celina, Ohio 3.97 Finance
OF Tyler Stovall Central Michigan Jr. Cincinnati, Ohio 3.84 Personal Financial Planning
OF Eric Cattoni Saint Mary's (Ca) Sr. Lethbridge, Alberta 3.99 Biology (pre-med)
OF Steve Mignogna Radford Gr. Mt. Laurel, N.J. 3.8 MBA, Business Administration
DH J.J. Eno Brown Jr. Kahului, Hawaii 3.73 Neuroscience

Third Team
Pos. Name School Year Hometown GPA Major
P Nick Hill Army Sr. Bluff City, Tenn. 3.24 Systems Engineering
P Jesse Craig Brigham Young Sr. Las Vegas, Nev. 3.80 Exercise Science
C Ryan Schreiter Towson Sr. Montoursville, Pa. 3.54 Biology
INF Jeff Hehr Eastern Michigan Jr. Boardman, Ohio 3.93 Accounting
INF Brian Friday Rice Jr. Houston, Texas 3.39 Economics/Managerial Studies
INF Brendon Hitchcock Binghamton Sr. Laceyville, Pa. 3.55 Accounting
INF Brett Scott Kansas State Jr. Manhattan, Kan. 3.97 Finance
OF Matt Nohelty Minnesota So. Rothschild, Wis. 4.00 Computer Science
OF James Conrad Lafayette Sr. Columbia, Md. 3.58 Mathematics
OF Chris Swauger Citadel Jr. Tampa, Fla. 3.92 Business Administration
DH Jacob Howell Ohio State Sr. Ashland, Ohio 3.53 Communication

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® OF THE YEAR: Aaron Ivey, Oklahoma