Nov. 18, 2010
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The San Diego State men's soccer team earned a NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2009-10 academic year, the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) announced yesterday.
The Aztecs earned a team GPA of 3.00, making them the only California State University men's program to garner the award, regardless of division (I, II or III).
Sophomore Jose Altamirano (San Diego/Southwest HS) was recently picked as a Pac-10 All-Academic First-Team selection. Altamirano was also one of 10 SDSU players who were honored at the SDSU Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet last spring for earning a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher. Other Aztecs who earned scholar-athlete recognition in May include current players Gemechu Abraham (Beaverton, Ore.), Chance Marden (Fremont, Calif.), Raymundo Reza (Denver, Colo.), Morgan Sacco (Greeley, Colo.) and Daniel Steres (Calabasas, Calif.), and past players Daniel Ortega (San Diego/Eastlake HS), Jorge Rosales (Redwood City, Calif.), R.J. Smith (San Diego/Granite Hills HS) and Evan Toft (Aurora, Colo.)
The NSCAA Team Academic Award is handed out to NCAA teams across all three divisions for earning a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher.