GREENWOOD, Ind. - Carson-Newman men's swimmer Paden Duke has earned Google Cloud Academic All-District At-Large team honors for a second straight year, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Thursday afternoon.
With the honor, Duke advances to the national ballot where he will try for back-to-back Academic All-America honors. Duke is looking to be the first Carson-Newman swimmer with such recognition as well as the first multi-year male at-large team member in school history.
Duke can become Carson-Newman's ninth two-time Academic All-American.
A junior biology major, Duke carries a 4.0 GPA. He is one of four student athletes from District III (encompassing the SAC, Conference Carolinas and Peach Belt) to carry a 4.0. That list also includes Carson-Newman golfer Anthony Marcinelli.
"As our team continues to soar higher and higher in the pool and the classroom, Paden continues to raise the bar for this team in the classroom," Carson-Newman head swim coach Jordan Taylor said. "He's maintained perfect grades while pushing through the rigors of the sport."
Duke's top perfomance came at the Nova Southeastern duel meet where he finished fourth in the 1000-yard free style. As a sophomore. Duke recorded a season-best time of 9:54.24 in the 1000 yard free at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships. Other notable swims for the sophomore include a third-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle in the team's quad meet against Mars Hill, Milligan, and Warren Wilson on Nov. 4. His season-best time in 500-yard freestyle 4:50.70 at the NSU Shark Invitational, which held some of the top competition between nationally-ranked schools in all of D2.
NCAA DIVISION II – DISTRICT 3 (Conference Carolinas, Peach Belt, South Atlantic)
FIRST TEAM
Sport Name School Yr. GPA Major
Tennis Agustin Aran Martin Queens University of Charlotte Jr. 3.92 Finance
Volleyball Evan Cory Lincoln Memorial University Jr. 3.98 Accounting & Finance
Swimming Paden Duke Carson-Newman University Jr. 4.00 Biology
Swimming Markus Furst Wingate University Jr. 3.95 Exercise Science
Golf Anthony Marcinelli Carson-Newman University Sr. 4.00 Business
Golf Colt Martin Anderson University So. 4.00 Business / Accounting
Swimming Niklas Martin Wingate University Sr. 3.97 Marketing
Tennis Robin Möller Georgia College Sr. 3.94 Exercise Science
Tennis Martin Moser University of Mount Olive Sr. 3.94 Business Analytics
Volleyball Francisco Salinger Cenzual Limestone College So. 4.00 Sport Management / Business Management
Swimming Giacomo Viazzo Wingate University Jr. 3.95 Chemistry / Mathematics