GREENWOOD, Ind. – Announced at 12 noon on Tuesday, November 15, Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's soccer players
Ville Ahola and
Zach Townsend earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors.
Known as the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) from its 1957 founding until the organization's name change in 2022, CSC is made up of over 3,200 strategic, creative and digital communication employees across intercollegiate athletics in both the United States and Canada.
The qualifications for a spot on the CSC Academic All-District Team
were boosted in 2022-23, as the organization now requires student-athletes to possess a 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale – up from 3.3 previously – and have completed at least one academic year at their current institution.
There was an athletic component, as well, as CSC requires nominated student-athletes to be a "starter or important reserve" and have appeared in at least 50 percent of their team's matches.
Prior to the strengthened requirements, CSC broke their National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I honorees into eight geographic districts. With these student-athletes now having a higher bar to clear to be eligible for an Academic All-District Team spot, the organization did away with the geographic groupings and decided to recognize all qualifiers.
A redshirt freshman forward and Criminal Justice major from Oxford, Townsend owns the highest GPA on the team at 3.84. After not seeing any playing time a year ago, he took a significant step forward in 2022, starting six of Oakland's final seven matches and recording his final career goal in the regular season finale against the Northern Kentucky Norse on November 2.
Hailing from Jarvenpaa, Finland, Ahola is not far behind Townsend in the classroom, checking in right on his heels with a 3.83 GPA.
Majoring in Exercise Science and the only Golden Grizzly to start all 19 of the program's matches this fall, Ahola was a First Team All-Horizon League selection, registering five points.
Voted on by the Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) from each of the conference's 10 men's soccer programs and released on November 1, Ahola also received Horizon League All-Academic recognition this season, an honor Townsend was eligible for and likely could have received, too.
Ahola and Townsend's inclusion on the CSC Academic All-District Team automatically places their names on the CSC Academic All-America ballot, with those honorees set to be announced in early December.
LINK TO CSC RELEASE
