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