AUSTIN, Texas – The 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-America Men’s At-Large Teams were announced Tuesday and Gustavus men’s tennis player Nick Aney (Sr., Rochester) was selected First Team Academic All-America. Academic All-America Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
Aney, a biochemistry major with a 3.99 GPA, earns his second consecutive First Team Academic All-America award. Aney, this year’s MIAC Arthur Ashe Award and MIAC Elite 22 Award winner, is a two-time All-American after reaching the semifinals of the 2021 NCAA Doubles Championships with partner Alex Budde, and finishing in the top eight at the 2021 ITA Cup after upsetting the No. 1-ranked team in the country in the first round. Aney received the 2021 MIAC Elite 22 Award and was an All-Conference selection. Aney has posted a career singles record of 40-29 and is 57-28 in doubles play. He has helped the Gusties win conference championships in both the regular season and playoff in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Aney finished the 2021-22 season ranked No. 11 in Division III doubles by the ITA, No 4 in the Central Region, and No. 20 regionally in singles play.
Aney garners Gustavus’s 125th CoSIDA Academic All-America honor, which ranks first in the MIAC (52 more than the next institution), 13th in NCAA Division III, and 37th among all NCAA divisions. Aney is one of three tennis players on the 15-member First Team, which also includes student-athletes who compete in water polo, skiing, wrestling, swimming, lacrosse, and volleyball. There are 17 members on the Second Team and 13 members on the Third Team.
Aney earns the Gustavus men’s tennis program’s 12th CoSIDA Academic All-America honor. The men’s tennis program has now gone four consecutive years with an Academic All-American after Chase Johnson and Michael O’Neil were selected Second Team in 2019, O’Neil First Team in 2020, and Aney First Team in 2021. After earning First Team honors last season, Aney joins an elite group of 28 Gustavus student-athletes to earn multiple Academic All-America honors. Aney is also in an exclusive club of seven Gusties to earn two First Team honors, joining Dave Najarian (Football – 1980, 81), Dan Duncan (Football – 1998, 99), Brian Bergstrom (Football – 2000, 01), Amanda Parker (Gymnastics – 2004, 05), Hailey Harren (Cross Country/Track – 2006, 07), and Rachael Click (Softball – 2008, 09).
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA 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.
Most Division III Academic All-America Honorees
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology 358
- Washington University 207
- Emory University 192
- Johns Hopkins University 187
- Nebraska Wesleyan University 187
- Augustana College 177
- Carnegie-Mellon University 169
- Calvin University 144
- Illinois Wesleyan University 142
- Rose Hulman Institute of Technology 140
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 130
- Case Western Reserve University 127
- Gustavus Adolphus College 125