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 10 selections among eight 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.  She was eventually joined by Geo Rios from the men's soccer team who repeated from 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.  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.  This was eventually eclipsed by the 2023-24 campaign where the Lakers saw a pair of Academic All-Americans.  Of the 10 selections, the men's soccer team leads with five selections while women's soccer saw three selections and men's and women's track& field and cross country each have one selection. 
  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.  Once the criteria has been met, the Sports Information Directors will vote and choose the Academic All-America class. 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