AUSTIN, Texas -- On August 10, four men's track and field/cross country student-athletes from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) were named Academic All-Americans® by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), including Calvin's Jonathan Ellis who was selected to the First Team.
A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® First Team honoree, Calvin's Jonathan Ellis was the league's 2021 Albert L. Deal Scholar-Athlete recipient. This accolade recognizes a senior male student-athlete from an MIAA member college who has excelled in academics and athletics while displaying outstanding leadership qualities. Ellis majored in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics, boasting a cumulative grade point average of 3.98. This past winter, Ellis claimed the league title in the 5000m run at the 2021 MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. He was later named to the 2021 All-MIAA Indoor Track and Field Team.
Calvin senior Bryce Reynolds earned CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team honors. The Biochemistry/Neuroscience major earned a cumulative GPA of 3.67. Reynolds was named the 2021 MIAA Most Valuable Indoor Field Athlete after breaking the league record in the weight throw (18.52m). The Knight also threw a conference-record 57.97m in the hammer throw at the 2021 MIAA Outdoor Championships. In his first appearance at the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships, Reynolds earned All-America accolades after finishing the hammer throw in fourth place.
Junior Nick Hoffman is a Public Accounting major at Hope with a 3.81 grade point average. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team honoree earned the MIAA's Most Valuable Track Athlete for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2021. He finished the mile run (4:13.62) and the 3000m run (8:39.37) at the MIAA Indoor Championships in record-breaking fashion and notched victories in both the 800m run and the 1500m run at the outdoor conference meet. At the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships, Hoffman earned All-American status after a third-place finish in the 1500m run.
Trine graduate student Jack Beakas received CoSIDA Academic All-America® Third Team accolades. Beakas has a perfect 4.00 GPA as a Civil Engineering major. He anchored the Thunder's first-place distance medley relay at the 2021 MIAA Indoor Championships. Beakas finished ninth in the 10,000m run at the NCAA DIII Championships.
The Division III Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Division III Academic All-America® teams.
For more information on the Academic All-America® program, go to https://academicallamerica.com.
CoSIDA Academic All-America® release
MIAA Student-Athletes Recognized by CoSIDA
Calvin - Jonathan Ellis (First Team), Bryce Reynolds (Second Team)
Hope - Nick Hoffman (Second Team)
Trine - Jack Beakas (Third Team)
