Lakers Trio Named Academic All-District Selections

CHICAGO – Roosevelt had three student-athletes named to the at-large Academic All-District team sponsored by College Sports Communicators, the organization announced Tuesday.

Alvaro Pardo Gutierrez earned the honor for the men's golf program, and Michele Bascape and Miguel Mendez Palencia were honored from the men's volleyball team. The at-large division covers all sports that do not have enough student-athletes nationwide for its own separate category. These three honorees brings Roosevelt's total to 32 student-athletes who earned CSC Academic All-District honors this season. 

Gutierrez was a first-team All-CCAC honoree this season after finishing in the top-10 four times including a pair of top-five finishes. The senior captured third place at the NAIA Midwest Invite in September then took home fourth at the Windy City Showdown in March. The Spainard also recorded a hole in one during a round at the Egypt Valley Championship in Michigan back in October.

Bascape led the Lakers with 667 assists in 22 matches this season, averaging nearly nine assists per set as the team's main setter. The junior from Italy was named the CCAC Setter of the Week in the last week of February and also added 23 blocks to his total this season. Palencia led Roosevelt with 205 digs while being one of the team's most dependable defenders as a libero. He also had 21 kills on 58 swings this season with a career-best 10 kills against St. Ambrose on March 21.

The Academic All-America program is the longest running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports in all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, two-year colleges and Canadian institutions. It was established in 1952 and the honorees are nominated by CSC members then All-American honors are voted on by the membership as well.

In order to be named to the Academic All-District teams, a student-athlete must not hold at least a 3.5 grade point average. In men's golf, the athlete must also appear in at least 70 percent of a team's team-scoring events. In men's volleyball, a player must either appear in 90 percent of a team's sets or start 2/3 of a team's matches. The list of all-district honorees is then vetted by the CSC committee, who send out a ballot for All-American honors to the membership.