Virginia Wesleyan College

ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District honors for four soccer stalwarts

DELAWARE, Ohio – Outstanding success on the playing field has been complemented by an impressive honor in the classroom as four Virginia Wesleyan College soccer standouts have been named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Four honorees in soccer is a first for Virginia Wesleyan, as is a total of three first-team accolades. Seniors Travis Cober (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) and Laura Jackson (Elkton, Md./North East) are recipients of the top honor, along with junior Jackie Ochs-Gregory (Lancaster, Pa./Millersville Penn Manor). Senior Kyle Williams (Springfield, Va./Robert E. Lee) was named to the second team.

Cober

Williams

Only 23 men and 28 women were named to the first or second teams in District III, which includes all National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II and Division III and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics colleges and universities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Student-athletes must have at least a 3.20 career cumulative grade point average and be a starter or play a key reserve role to be nominated for the honor.

All four Virginia Wesleyan honorees have been starters for the Marlins and have been consistent contributors to the teams’ success. Cober, a defensive leader, and Williams, a goalkeeper, have helped the men to a 16-2 showing so far this season, and Jackson, a midfield leader, and Ochs-Gregory, another defensive standout, have helped guide the women to a 14-1-4 record to date. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished No. 1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) regular-season standings.

The first-team honor is the second for Cober, who carries a 3.90 GPA a liberal arts management program major concentrating on business. He was a third-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2006 and a 2007 Academic All-Virginia honor. A two-time team captain, Cober has never recorded a GPA lower than 3.8 in his six-plus semesters. He is a six-time Dean’s List honoree, a member of Sigma Beta Delta national business honor society and Chi Alpha Sigma, the national athletics honor society. Cober has played in 75 career games, started in 74 and has been a sparkplug in this year’s defense that has surrendered only 12 goals, the fourth lowest total in VWC history.

Cober and Williams have both been instrumental in the continuation of VWC’s impressive soccer success. They’ve been part of teams that have compiled a combined 54-18-7 overall record, a 25-8-3 ODAC record, won a league championship and earned two NCAA tournament berths. VWC is riding a current streak of 23 consecutive winning seasons, one of the longest streaks in the nation.

While Cober has done most of his defensive damage on the field, Williams has been a mainstay patrolling the area between the goal posts. This season he has played 952 minutes in front of the goal and produced three shutouts, a 0.67 goals against average and a .795 saves percentage. Ranked No. 5 among VWC’s all-time shutout leaders, Williams is also a repeat Academic All-District honoree. He owns a current 3.58 GPA as a criminal justice major, is a six-time Dean’s List honoree and is a Presidential Scholarship recipient. A 2006 All-ODAC and All-Virginia honoree, Williams has played in 64 career games and started in 52.

Jackson

Ochs-Gregory

While the repeat honors for Cober and Williams rank as a first for the Marlin’s men’s soccer program, the double first-team honors for Jackson and Ochs-Gregory are also a first for the women’s side. The honors are also the first for both women. Jackson, a double major in criminal justice and political science, possesses a current 3.71 GPA and is a six-time Dean’s List student-athlete. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Alpha Phi Sigma, national honor societies for leadership and criminal justice, respectively. She is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma.

A two-time All-ODAC honoree, 2006 first-team All-Virginia selection and a 2006 second-team All-South honoree, Jackson has been a steady force in putting the ball into the net for the Marlins. She led VWC in scoring in 2006, guiding the Marlins to the NCAA final four, and is leading the team in scoring again, currently with 10 goals and two assists. Jackson has contributed to VWC teams that have a combined record of 66-10-11, a 38-2-4 ODAC record, one league title and two NCAA berths.

Ochs-Gregory’s contributions to that success have been primarily on the defensive side where she has been part of a back row effort that has made it consistently difficult for opponents to get close to the goal. The Marlins have allowed only eight goals this season, which ties the program record for fewest goals allowed. They’ve also recorded 16 shutouts, the second highest total in program history.

In the classroom, Ochs-Gregory owns a 3.84 GPA as a junior psychology major. She is a four-time Dean’s List honoree, has recorded back-to-back 3.9 semesters and has never posted a GPA lower than 3.62. A Presidential Scholarship recipient, Ochs-Gregory is a member of Psy Chi, the national psychology honor society.

VWC’s academic honorees are the first of the fall for the College, which garnered a school-record nine during the 2006-07 academic-athletic year. VWC has received 41 CoSIDA Academic All-District awards since 1999 and 12 Academic All-America citations.

–VWC--