May 24, 2010
Contact: Renee Adam
Cleveland, Ohio - Cleveland State senior swimmer Stephen Grove has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team in the men's at-large category for the second consecutive year. Voting for the academic all-district teams is conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Grove, who earned second team all-district honors as a sophomore, will now advance to the national ballot where he is eligible for Academic All-America honors.
The all-district team consists of 10 NCAA Division I student-athletes from Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, Alabama and Kentucky, while the men's at-large category consists of the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
As a mechanical engineering major, Grove carries a 3.82 grade point average, the highest on the team.
"By any definition, Stephen is one of the top scholar athletes in the nation when you combine his major of mechanical engineering with his talent as one of the top mid-major swimmers in the Horizon League and the nation," head coach Wally Morton said. "Stephen was able to graduate in four years and maintain almost perfect grades during his academic career and put up some of the best performances in the pool over his four years and that shows a lot about the type of person that he is. We all wish him the best of luck in his future career as a nuclear engineer for the United State Navy."
Grove, who finished his career with CSU records in the 50 freestyle (20.09) and the 100 butterfly (48.60), also holds an all-time top-10 time in the 100 free (9th, 45.78), and was an instrumental part in four of the Viking relays that set all-time top-five times this season.
Grove advanced to the finals in all three of his individual events at the Horizon League Championship this season, finishing third in the 100 fly (48.85), fourth in the 50 free (20.69) and fifth in the 100 back (51.71).
Also at the league championship, Grove led the 200 medley relay (1:29.29) and the 200 free relay (1:21.28) to league titles as well as NCAA "B" cut times and the second and fourth fastest times in Cleveland State history respectively.
With the 200 medley relay victory, Grove became a four-time Horizon League Champion in the event, leading the relay to a championship record last season (1:27.58).
Grove's selection to the academic all-district team marks the fifth straight year that the Vikings have had a student-athlete named to the team, Bjorn Schantz (2005-06, 2006-07) and Grove (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10).
