Athletes Named to Academic All-America Teams

Two Rice athletes—baseball’s Wade Townsend and track and field’s Adam Davis—were named the 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year in their respective sports, the highest award that honors both academic excellence and athletic achievement.

Rice CoSIDA Academic All-Americans: Richard Barker, William Barker, Catherine DuPont, Chris Kolkhorst, and Ben Wiggins.

Townsend, a pitcher who also was named to the academic all-America Baseball first team, amassed a 3.59 grade point average while majoring in history, economics, and managerial studies. As a junior, he finished the 2004 season with 12–0 record, a 1.80 ERA, two complete-game shutouts, and 148 strikeouts in 120.1 innings.

Davis, a senior who also earned first team academic all-America track honors, carries a 3.96 grade point average in economics. In June, he placed eighth at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 1500-meter race and won the event at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships in May. This is the third consecutive year for Davis to receive academic all-America honors, having been named to the first team in 2003 and the second team in 2002.

In all, eight Owls garnered all-America honors this year. Others named to CoSIDA Academic All-America teams during the 2003–2004 school year included:

May graduate Chris Kolkhorst, named to the baseball third team. He maintained a 3.36 grade point average, majoring in economics, managerial studies, and kinesiology. He also led the Owls in hitting with a .371 average.

Senior Ben Wiggins, named to the track third team. He holds a 3.52 in economics and kinesiology. In May, he swept the hurdles at the Western Athletic Conference championships, taking both the 110- and 400-meter hurdle titles, then anchoring the Owls’ 4x400-meter relay squad to victory. In July, Wiggins competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 400-meter hurdles, placing 13th with a time of 49.91 seconds in the semifinals.

Allison Beckford, a May graduate, named to the academic all-America first team in women’s track and field for the third straight year. She received her degrees in linguistics and kinesiology and won the 400-meter race and 400-meter hurdles at the Western Athletic Conference outdoor championships for the fourth straight year.

May graduates Richard and William Barker, named to the academic all-America men’s at-large team, which includes athletes who participate in fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis, volleyball, water polo, or wrestling. The tennis duo was named to the all-America third team in 2003. Richard maintained a 3.82 grade point average while majoring in mathematical economic analysis and managerial studies. William held a 3.83 grade point average in economics, managerial studies, and sports management. The pair ended their collegiate career ranked second in doubles.

Senior Catherine DuPont, named to the academic all-America women’s volleyball third team. DuPont holds a 4.0 grade point average in sports medicine and Spanish. This is the second consecutive academic all-America third-team honor for DuPont.

CoSIDA—the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic—is a 2,000-member organization of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its all-America teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom.