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Navy's Eric Gardiner Named to ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America At-Large First Team
ANNAPOLIS, Md. --
Recent United States Naval Academy graduate Eric Gardiner
(Upland, Calif./Damien) and golfer Chris Renninger were
named At-Large First-Team Academic All-American selections on
Tuesday by ESPN The Magazine and the College Sports Information
Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Navy was just one of two institutions to have at least two
representatives on the first, second and third teams combined.
Stanford led the way with three first-team honorees. To be
eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key
reserve, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 on a
scale of 4.00 and have reached sophomore athletic and academic
standing. The academic at-large team represents athletes
participating in bowling (w), crew (w), fencing (m/w), field hockey
(w), golf (m/w), gymnastics (m/w), ice hockey (m/w), lacrosse
(m/w), rifle (m/w), skiing (m/w), swimming (m/w), tennis (m/w),
volleyball (m), water polo (m/w) and wrestling (m).
Gardiner, who appeared in 31 games with eight starts for the
Midshipmen this past fall, helped lead the Navy water polo team to
a third-place finish at the NCAA Championship in December. He
turned in 19 points (10 g, 9a) on the season and ended his career
with 41 points (27 g, 14 a).
However, it was his contributions out of the pool that are perhaps
most impressive.
Earning an "A" in every class he took while at the Academy,
Gardiner owned a 4.00 cumulative GPA in comparative politics, and
was selected to the Superintendent's and Commandant's List each
semester while at Navy.
He graduated in May, where he was tied for first in academic order
of merit and fourth in military order of merit. For his efforts in
the classroom, he received a prestigious Marshall Scholarship for
graduate study in the United Kingdom for two years. Starting in
September, he will be studying at Queen's University in Belfast,
pursuing a Master of Arts Degree in Terrorism, Violence and
Security. Following a year at Queen's, Gardiner plans to study a
second year at either Cambridge or Oxford, pursuing a degree in
international relations. Gardiner received a Special Warfare
(SEALs) service selection, and after his graduate education in the
United Kingdom, will head to Coronado, Calif., to go through BUD/S
(Basic Underwater Demolition School) training.
Gardiner becomes the third Navy water polo player to be named an
Academic All-America selection, as Andrew Sause was selected to the
first team in 2001, while Barry Shaw was a second-team honoree in
both 2001 and '02.
The honor caps off Gardiner's honor-filled career as he received
an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship last month and was the recipient
of the Academy's Calvert Award.
The complete 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At-Large teams can be found at http://www.cosida.com/documents/2008/6/10/2008_mens_atlarge.pdf.
