JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Senior Paden Duke (Memphis, Tenn.) of the Carson-Newman swim team has been named to the 2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-America at-large first-team for Division II.
"Paden has been a staple on our team as a driven, academic guy," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "He was always driven and focused on both the pool and the classroom."
Duke joins fellow swim senior Mary Northcutt (Huntsville, Ala.) as the only athletes in Carson-Newman history to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America teams three times.
Nationwide, Duke and Northcutt are two of just six total student-athletes to earn the recognition for the third time in their respective careers.
It is the second consecutive season that Duke has landed on the first-team after being named to the third-team after the 2017-2018 season.
Duke, a biology and chemistry double-major, finished his undergraduate courses with a 4.00 GPA. He will attend medical school this fall.
"From the start, he knew what he wanted in the future and knew that we would have to lean in and work hard," Taylor said. "It's nice to see the hard work paying off with a 4.0 GPA and recognition on campus and nationwide."
Duke and Northcutt's laurels build this year's Academic All-American list to eight C-N athletes for the 2019-2020 season, a new school record.
The Eagles have seen 48 total athletes named Academic All-Americans by CoSIDA, including 33 in the last six years alone.
Nationwide, 16 men and 16 women are repeat performers on this year's at-large teams. Thirty-four athletes on the teams, 20 women and 14 men finished with a 4.00 GPA.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America Division II men's team had an overall GPA of 3.93.
