Men's Golf | May 15, 2015

McLEAN, VA (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University men's golf graduate student and captain Frank Rivera (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) has been honored for his excellence as a scholar-athlete by being voted to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-District® 2 Division III Men's At-Large First Team. He now advances to the Academic All-America® ballot.

Academic All-District Teams
 
Rivera becomes just the second men's golf student-athlete to receive the distinction, following in the footsteps of head coach Brian Ferrante who was also selected during the 2012-13 year and was later tabbed as a Second-Team Academic All-American.
 
Rivera was the only men's golf student-athlete and the only graduate student recognized as part of the 12-man All-District First Team. Nationally, he was one of only 59 men's golfers at any level of collegiate athletics—Division I, II, III, NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools—thus honored.
 
Rivera, who last month was named the 2015 Andrew Geyer Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award winner by the Capital Athletic Conference also claimed the 2014-15 NJCU Presidential Academic Achievement Award for having the highest grade point average (3.62) of all sophomore level or older men's student-athletes.
 
Ferrante applauded his captain, saying: "I think it's a great achievement for our program and for Frank. I'm really proud of him and I am glad he is being rewarded for all the hard work he has put into this program and his academics and this is yet another indicator of what kind of leader and person Frank is."
 
Rivera, who turned 30 in November, has been a standout as anything but a traditional student-athlete for NJCU since his arrival on campus in 2012, after serving his country for eight years as a member of the U.S. Air Force with tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Rivera, a married father of two, graduated this winter with a major in Economics while minoring in Philosophy & Religion and a 3.62 grade point average. He is currently enrolled in NJCU's graduate school of business, pursuing an M.B.A.
 
As a junior in 2013-14, he was named to the 2014 CAC Men's Golf All-Academic Team and recognized as a 2014 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sport-Scholar Award winner. He will repeat as a CAC All-Academic Team selection later this spring.
 
The only member of the NJCU golf program to compete in the CAC championship in both years NJCU has been an associate member of the league, he played in six total rounds this season for the Gothic Knights. He finished his career with a personal-best round of 87 (+15) in the Sage Fall Invitational on September 18, 2013, despite not seriously picking up the sport until he entered college.
 
To be eligible to be on the All-District ballot, student-athletes must be a starter and significant contributor of at least sophomore academic status, with a minimum GPA of 3.30.
 
The at-large program is the most comprehensive in the national program as 12 men's sports are eligible for consideration—fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.  
 
This is the fourth year that the Academic All-America program has been expanded to include a Division III-only team. Athletes eligible for All-District 2 honors include those from Division III institutions in Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island and West Virginia. All nominations and voting are conducted by membership of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Capital One Academic All-America® National Team first, second and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.