Clayton State University Athletics

One of the most prestigious academic honors a student-athlete can earn is to be named a College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America. An exclusive club, there has been seven selections among six individuals in the history of Clayton State athletics. 

Robert Spezzacatena of men's cross country/track & field became the first Laker to earn Academic All-America honors, doing so in 2011-12 with third-team recognition. 

Maria Marti Bartis of women's soccer not only became the first individual to earn first-team honors in 2015-16, she became the first person to collect multiple Academic All-America recognitions, repeating her first-team performance in 2016-17.

Joy Diaz earned third-team honors in 2017-18, doing so while only competing in cross country. For women's cross country/track & field, she was one of only four of 46 selected individuals to make the team without competing in track & field that season. She was the only one of those four to come from a program that sponsored both.

In 2019-20, Tim Neusesser became the first men's soccer player to earn Academic All-America honors. Not only was he the first men's soccer player to garner the award, he also became the second Laker to earn first-team honors. 

Clayton State then made history in 2020-21. For the first time, the Department of Athletics had two Lakers earn recognition in the same season. Ann-Cathrin Zabel and Mitro Turunen were named third-team selections for the women's soccer and men's soccer teams, respectively. 
  To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 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, the CSC has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

Clayton State History of CSC Academic All-America Selections (10 Selections / 8 Individuals)
2023-24- Christian Ransome (Men's Soccer)- Second Team
2023-24- Geo Rios (Men's Soccer)- First Team
2022-23- Geo Rios (Men's Soccer)- Second Team
2020-21 - Mitro Turunen (Men's Soccer) - Third Team
2020-21 - Ann-Cathrin Zabel (Women's Soccer) - Third Team
2019-20 - Tim Neusesser (Men's Soccer) - First-Team
2017-18 - Joy Diaz (Women's Track & Field/Cross Country) - Third-Team
2016-17 - Maria Marti Bartis (Women's Soccer) - First-Team
2015-16 - Maria Marti Bartis (Women's Soccer) - First-Team
2011-12 - Robert Spezzacatena (Men's Track & Field/Cross Country) - Third-Team