May 23, 2011

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 2011 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Teams were announced for men's and women's at-large categories and three Illinois athletes earned distinction in District Five. Senior gymnast Melissa Fernandez took home first-team All-District honors, while teammate Allison Buckley and tennis player Abe Souza each received All-District second team accolades for the second straight year. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

District Five includes Division I universities in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. In order to be considered, athletes must be in their second year academically at the school, have a minimum 3.30 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and be a starter or regular contributor. CoSIDA members serving schools in each district vote on the winners. The at-large category includes all sports except basketball, soccer, volleyball, football, baseball, softball, cross country & track & field.

*Fernandez accomplished several firsts for the Illini in her final competition at the University of Illinois. The Eudora, Kan., native earned three All-America honors to become Illinois' first-ever multiple All-American at the NCAA Championships, placed fifth in the nation in the all-around to become the first Illini to earn an NCAA trophy in the all-around and reached the podium at event finals by tying for fifth on beam to notch the highest individual finish in school history. She became the first Illini to make the podium twice in her career at event finals and now owns the UI program's most career All-America accolades with four. Fernandez majored in kinesiology.

*Buckley cemented her name throughout the UI record book in her final season as an Orange and Blue gymnast. The Schaumburg, Ill., native broke the career event titles record with 62 crowns, eclipsed her own record-setting mark in the all-around with a 39.550 and equaled her own score of 9.950 on beam, which is tops in program history. She also earned her third career All-America honor with a second-team accolade on floor. Both Fernandez and Buckley also were Academic All-Big Ten selections for the third year in a row. Buckley majored in kinesiology.

*Souza was named Advantage Illinois Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row and became the program's first consecutive winner of the award since Ryler DeHeart in 2005 and 2006. The St. Louis, Mo., native ranked second on the team with 25 wins this season, including an 8-2 mark in Big Ten play. Souza finished with 99 wins for his career, which is tied with Neil Adams for 12th all-time in most career singles wins. He majored in history and will be attending law school at Loyola University Chicago in the fall.