AUSTIN, Texas --- Tusculum College senior David Cooper has been named to the 2014-2015 Capital One Division II Academic All-America® Men's Cross Country/Track & Field first team as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Cooper garners Academic All-America® honors for a third time, earning first team distinction in each of the last two years and second team honors as a sophomore (2013-14)

Cooper becomes only the third Tusculum student-athlete to earn Academic All-America® accolades three times. He joins Tusculum men's tennis All-American Lukas Winkelmann, who was a three-time Academic All-America® first team choice from 2013-2015 and fellow TC cross country great Simon Holzapfel (2008-2011).

Cooper and Aaron Dinzeo of California University of Pennsylvania, the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year, are the only two three-time winners on this year's Academic All-America® squad.

Cooper graduated from Tusculum with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average while majoring in biology at Tusculum.

The Greeneville, Tennessee native is a two-time South Atlantic Conference Men's Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year honoree, becoming only the seventh two-time recipient of the award in league history.

The Chuckey-Doak High School graduate is a member of the Tusculum Dean's List, Tusculum President's List and the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll. He is also a member of the Alpha Chi Honors Society and the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. He is the recipient of the Greene County Endowed Scholarship, the Llewelyn M. Fox '16 Memorial Annual Scholarship and the Ray L. Bowman '42 Endowed Scholarship.

He earned the Tusculum College President's Award this spring and was also the recipient Tusculum Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award for a third consecutive year. In 2012, he was the winner of the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award.

On the course, Cooper was a three-time All-SAC selection earning first team honors in 2012 and finished eighth at the conference championship in each of the last two years to garner second team recognition. In 2011, he was named to the SAC All-Freshman Team and was a four-year team captain.

He accounted for one of the finest running careers in Tusculum history. He owns 10 of the top-25 running times (8,000 meters) in program history, including two in the top-10. His career-best 8K time of 26:02 at the 2014 Greater Louisville Classic is the fourth-lowest ever by a Pioneer. He recorded three individual wins in his career and led TC to a pair of team titles as well.

Cooper has been involved in numerous campus and community leadership roles, serving with the Nettie Day of Service, the Greene County YMCA, the TC Athletic Judicial Board and the Greene County Humane Society. He also served as president of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a past participant of the SAC Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.

He is one of only nine Tusculum student-athlete to earn Academic All-America® honors on two or more occasions in their career, along with Denise Fliesser (women's soccer), Jarrell NeSmith (football), Simon Holzapfel (men's cross country), Taylor Rakes (baseball), Ashley Sarmiento (volleyball), Jillian Corum (women's golf), Lukas Winkelmann (men's tennis) and Calley Lawson (women's golf).

Cooper will be attending medical school at the East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City starting next month. He is working to become an orthopaedic surgeon.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. 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 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.

- CoSIDA -

2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Men's Cross Country/Track & Field Team
First Team
Luke Arnold, Western State Colorado
Ethan Barnes, Grand Valley State
David Cooper, Tusculum
Aaron Dinzeo, California (Pa.)
Randall Freeman, Carson-Newman
Javan Gray, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Johnnie Guy, Southern Indiana
Ryan Haebe, Western State Colorado
Bryant Keirns, Oklahoma Christian
Payson Maydew, Emporia State
Andrew McLain, Lewis
Tyler Pence, Southern Indiana
David Reinhardt, Slippery Rock
Clint Rosser, UC San Diego
Dillon Schrodt, Nebraska-Kearney

Second Team
Justin Ellerbee, Cal Poly Pomona
Trent Fontanella, Stonehill
Jeff Fraley, Missouri Southern State
Alex Hampel, Indiana (Pa.)
Nick Kirkpatrick, Stonehill
Curran Kneebone, Philadelphia
Mitch Kraft, Black Hills State
Jani Lane, Michigan Tech
Kevin Naceanceno, Harding
Brady Tien, Fort Hays State
Andrew Trusty, Malone
Scott Whitaker, Malone
Bryan Wilcox, Stonehill
Donald Wilcox, Emporia State
David Yoder, Cedarville

Third Team
Andrew Alexander, Johnson C. Smith
Dylan Bates, Coker
Dominic Kacich, Truman State
Zach Daniel, West Texas A&M
Lucas Goodspeed, Harding
Derek Lahm, Wayne State (Mich.)
Scott Litts, Dowling
Baptiste Moreu, West Texas A&M
Dallas Nord, Fresno Pacific
Alan Peterson, Grand Valley State
Ryan Roush, Malone
Austin Shaffer, Colorado School of Mines
Ryan Spangler, Shippensburg
Tabor Stevens, Adams State
Ryder Tam, Colorado-Colorado Springs
Alex Zubko, East Stroudsburg

Academic All-America® of the Year: Aaron Dinzeo, California (Pa.)