Jan. 26, 2010

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Samford University placed 29 student-athletes on the Southern Conference's 2009 Fall Academic All-Conference team, released by the league on Tuesday.

To be eligible for the team, a student-athlete must possess at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average entering the fall season and must have competed in at least one-half of their team's competitions during the recently-concluded fall campaign. In addition, the student-athletes must have successfully completed at least 24 credit hours in the previous two semesters.

Samford's total of 29 was the third highest in the conference trailing only Elon (39) and Wofford (38). A total of 316 student-athletes were named to the team.

The student-athletes on the team, participating in football, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer and volleyball, recorded a 3.56 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Samford's 29 student-athletes on the team posted a GPA of 3.52.

The Bulldogs' soccer team had the most representatives of any Samford team with nine members being named to the team. The football team had eight representatives on the team, followed by men's cross country with six, and women's cross country and volleyball with three each.

SAMFORD REPRESENTATIVES ON THE 2009 SOCON FALL ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Jeremy Towns, Football, 3.88, Sports Medicine
Dustin Taliaferro, Football, 3.74, Business
Charlie Sanford, Football, 3.66, Sports Medicine
Cory Smith, Football, 3.65, Sports Medicine
Tyler Levie, Football, 3.59, Biology
Richie Fordham, Football, 3.51, Business
Ryan Fordham, Football, 3.40, Business
J. D. Lott, Football, 3.34, Psychology
Jay Meservy, Men's Cross Country, 3.59, Philosophy/Religion
Scott Cope, Men's Cross Country, 3.58, Biology
Matt Bryson, Men's Cross Country, 3.57, International Relations
Patrick Ollinger, Men's Cross Country, 3.45, Communication Studies
Blaise Carie, Men's Cross Country, 3.44, Biology
Dan Hall, Men's Cross Country, 3.25, Sports Adminstration
Katie Luckman, Volleyball, 3.91, Pharmacy
Hillary Fountain, Volleyball, 3.67, Early Childhood Education
Katie Weber, Volleyball, 3.40, Graphic Design
Ina Ables, Women's Cross Country, 3.54, Nutrition/Dietetics
Hillary Neal, Women's Cross Country, 3.30, Nursing
Andrea Seccafien, Women's Cross Country, 3.22, International Relations
Colette Nammour, Women's Soccer, 3.92, Biology
Theresa Henry, Women's Soccer, 3.72, Political Science
Natalie Fleming, Women's Soccer, 3.69, Family Studies
Shannon Healy, Women's Soccer, 3.46, Graphic Design
Shannon Weathington, Women's Soccer, 3.41, Exercise Science
Kelly Shaffer, Women's Soccer, 3.37, Physical Education
Jordan Gotfredson, Women's Soccer, 3.31, Journalism/Mass Communications
Mary Shelton Bryant, Women's Soccer, 3.29, Exercise Science
Leah Leppert, Women's Soccer, 3.29, Nutrition/Dietetics