Five more Vikings named Academic All-Americans — 183 total
Five Vikings won Academic All-American status this spring/summer, which is the most for Augustana in one year since the 2016-2017 academic year. Three Augustana teams — women’s water polo, men’s water polo and men’s volleyball — had their first athletes earn Academic All-American recognition.
"These selections speak to our students' academic success, but we all know these student-athletes have to excel in their sport, and their team has to be highly competitive for these AAA selections to occur," said Dr. Wes Brooks, vice president and dean of student life.
Mike Zapolski, director of Augustana athletics, called it a "powerful point of pride for Augie."
Now with 183 Academic All-Americans, Augustana ranks 14th among the NCAA’s 1,100 schools in DI, DII and DIII across the country.
Meet Augustana’s newest Academic All-Americans
What’s better than earning Academic All-American honors? Having your teammate and best friend also be honored. That’s how it played out with water polo’s Charlotte Newport '25 from Bayport, Texas, and Ocean Akau '25 from Pana'ewa, Hawai'i.
"Managing athletics and academics while maintaining excellence simply comes down to hard work and the willingness to show up each and every day," Newport said. "If I had to say I had one secret, though, it would actually be my best friend and fellow Academic All-American honoree, Ocean Akau."
Newport explained, "Making sacrifices to get extra homework done, going to the pool to train in the off season and giving 100% in practice every day is so much easier when it's shared with someone else. Ocean is the hardest worker I know, and she inspires me every day to be the best student-athlete that I can be."
Both Newport and Akau helped lead the Vikings to its second consecutive third-place finish at nationals this year. Newport is a history major with a 3.99 grade point average, and Akau is a psychology major with a 3.96 GPA.
"Earning this recognition is a huge honor and means a lot to me as someone who comes from a small native Hawaiian community," Akau said. "I am grateful to have the opportunity to represent my lāhui [community] and ʻohana [family] in my sport and the classroom."
Also on the women’s side, Charlotte Frere '26 from Preemption, Ill., earned Academic All-American honors in track & field. She is the 2024 NCAA DIII national champion in discus. A double major in biology and kinesiology, Frere is on the pre-physician assistant path with a 3.94 GPA.
Joseph Addison '24, a dual-sport athlete in men's water polo and swimming from Eads, Tenn., also captured Academic All-American honors this spring. Addison scored 46 goals to tie for second place in Augustana single-season records. He helped lead his team to a fourth-place finish at the USA Water Polo Division III National Tournament.
Addison graduated with a double major in accounting and business management with a 3.95 GPA.
For volleyball’s Max Sellers '25 from Edwardsville, Ill., being named an Academic All-American was a "far-fetched goal" that originated during his first visit to Augustana in 2019.
"AD Zapolski shared the amazing history of Academic All-Americans, and that was one of my main factors in committing to being a student-athlete at Augie, "Sellers said. "It was always a goal I had in the back of my mind, which made me push harder in the gym and the classroom in case I would be fortunate enough to receive the award!"
Sellers, a computer science and data analytics double major, has a 3.53 GPA. "I am very fortunate to have had great professors and classmates at Augustana who have helped me achieve my academic goals," Sellers said
The 2024 season was historic for both Sellers and his team. Men’s volleyball, established in 2018 at Augustana, earned the most victories in program history, finishing third in the CCIW with a 18-7 record.
"As a student-athlete, my primary goal has been the team's success," Sellers said. "However, I am also a competitor and pushed myself to be the best that I could be whether I gained recognition or not."