BATON ROUGE — LSU swimmer Leon Cannizzaro was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men’s At-Large Third Team it was announced by CoSIDA.
Cannizzaro, a native of Metairie, La., recently graduated from LSU with a perfect 4.00 grade point average in biology, and he will begin classes this fall at the LSU Medical School. Cannizzaro earned SEC Academic Honor Roll honors twice during his career, and he was named a first-team District VI All-American on June 3.
The Men’s At-Large squad for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
Cannizzaro wrapped up his eligibility for the Tigers this past spring, competing in every meet for the second straight season. He also participated at the SEC Championships for the second time in his career.
“He is a true example of what a student-athlete should be,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “To be recognized as one of the top student-athletes in the country is a tremendous honor for he and the program. He’s the kind of person every coach would love to have.”
Cannizzaro becomes the first LSU swimmer to be named to the prestigious squad, and he is the fifth LSU representative selected to a national academic list this year. Softball first baseman Stephanie Hill, football offensive lineman Rudy Niswanger and soccer midfielder Chelsea Agar earned first-team Academic All-America recognition. Pitcher Jason Determann recently received second-team Academic All-America baseball honors by the publication.
The Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America), a 2,000 member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
To be eligible, a student-athletes must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 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. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.