DELAWARE, Ohio - Seattle University senior swimmer Lindsey Gall (Chehalis, Wash.) was voted First Team Academic All-District on the women's at-large team, while fellow swimmers Chris Coley (Austin, Texas) and Nathan Freeman (Phoenix, Ariz.) earned the same recognition on the men's at-large team, announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Gall, majoring in diagnostic ultrasound with a 3.73 grade point average, finished seventh in the 100 butterfly at the 2007 Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference Championships, falling 1/100ths of a second short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships in that event. In 2006, she earned All-America recognition by finishing fifth in the 100 butterfly, and she holds the school record in that event as well as in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle.
Coley, the 2006 national champion in the 100 butterfly, was a four-time All-American at the 2007 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships. Individually, he finished fifth in the 100 butterfly and sixth in the 200 butterfly, plus he was part of the 4x200 freestyle relay squad that placed sixth and the 4x100 freestyle relay quartet that finished eighth. Double majoring in psychology and philosophy with a 3.84 grade point average, he is presently in India to serve those less fortunate.
An arts and sciences pre-major with a 3.84 grade point average, Freeman was a teammate of Coley's on the 4x200 freestyle relay team that finished sixth at the NCAA Championships, earning the sophomore his first All-American award. One of the team's top distance swimmers, he won the 400 freestyle at the University of Puget Sound on Jan. 6 and the 800 freestyle at Simon Fraser on Jan. 20.
The CoSIDA Academic At-Large Team encompasses student-athletes from sports such as ice hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics, swimming, crew, field hockey, and other sports that do not have their own teams. Coley, Freeman, and Gall are now eligible to be named Academic All-Americans, but they will be competing with first team honorees from all eight districts of CoSIDA.
So far in the 2006-07 academic year, Seattle University has placed 13 student-athletes on either the First Team or Second Team of Academic All-District squads in soccer, volleyball, basketball, and now the at-large team. Coming into the year with four Academic All-America honorees in school history, four SU student-athletes (Ana Gutierrez, Adam Jensen, Ashley Porter, and Hans Esterhuizen) have been voted to one of the College Division Academic All-America teams this year. There is the potential for more honorees, as the cross country/track and field teams have not been voted on.
Founded in 1891, Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university of over 7,200 undergraduate and graduate students located in the Capitol Hill section of Seattle. Presently a Division II member of the NCAA, Seattle University has begun the process of becoming a member of NCAA Division I.