BRISTOL, Conn. --- Tusculum College's Simon Holzapfel has been named to the 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Men's Cross Country/Track & Field First Team. This marks the second straight year Holzapfel has been named to the Academic All-District First Team.

Holzapfel, a 5-5 junior from Nuremberg, Germany, has emerged as one of the premier runners in the nation. He has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average, majoring in Sport Management and Sport Science. Holzapfel advances to the Academic All-America® ballot, which will be announced later this week. He was named to Academic All-America® Third Team last year.

Holzapfel has enjoyed one of the best seasons ever recorded by a Tusculum harrier, winning five of his six events this past fall. He won his first five events to start the season, including the South Atlantic Conference Championship with an 8K school-record time of 25:53.96.

The two-time All-SAC First Team honoree finished ninth at the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship, while garnering All-Region honors for the second time in his career.

Holzapfel has shattered the Tusculum Record Book and owns eight of the 10 fastest 8K times in school history, including the seven bests. He has captured 10 individual titles in his career and has been named SAC Runner of the Week on four occasions, including three times this season.

He was named the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete for Men's Cross Country, becoming the first male runner in school history to earn this award. He is a two-time recipient of the Duffield Academic Award, which recognizes the TC student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. He is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and has been named to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, the Tusculum Dean's List, President's List and the Charles Oliver Gray Honor's List.

Last month, he was named the recipient of the Tennessee Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (TAHPERD) Outstanding Major Award.

Holzapfel serves as a senator for the Tusculum Student Government Association and is a campus tutor. He is a member of the Tusculum President's Society, where he serves as student ambassador. He also serves as a resident assistant and is a member of a campus group that works on protecting the environment, recycling and energy saving. He also volunteers at a local nursing home with painting and other projects, and fundraising projects at a local elementary school.

Members of the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Team are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, which includes all colleges and universities from Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio and Michigan comprising District IV.

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