Swimmer Austin Shirey Earns CoSIDA Academic Honor
5/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
May 24, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama swimmer Austin Shirey was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 At-Large team it was announced this week. A senior this season, Shirey earned second team honors.
The Muscle Shoals, Ala. native holds a 3.97 grade point average in International Marketing and Spanish. A three-year Southeastern Conference Championships competitor, Shirey posted career-best times in the 50 and 100 freestyles as a senior.
"This is a great honor for Austin, someone who came in here and gave his all every day in practice, every day in the classroom and was also active in the community," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "He is a great ambassador for Alabama and this is a very fitting way for him to finish out his Crimson Tide career."
Earning a spot on the at-large team is especially difficult as it considers athletes from several different sports. Shirey is the latest member of the Alabama swimming and diving team to earn CoSIDA Academic honors, joining Vlad Polyakov (2007, 2006, 2005), Apostolis Tsagkarakis (2007), Guido Arroyo (2006) and Stewart Smith (2005) who all earned Academic All-American honors during their Tide tenure.
"I think the success that we have had in the Academic All-American program speaks volumes to the emphasis that Alabama Swimming and Diving puts on being successful in all areas of the collegiate experience," McIlquham said.
A McWane Study Abroad Fellowship Award winner, Shirey also earned the Morris L. Mayer Endowed Scholarship in Marketing and was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma honoraries
He was a C & BA Scholar-Athlete honoree and an Excellence in Scholarship in Marketing award winner. An NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship nominee he was a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll honoree and an Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member.
Players Mentioned
