Kowalowski selected to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team

May 27, 2009

SAVANNAH, Ga. (May 2009) - Kyle Kowalowski became the first baseball player at Plattsburgh State to win ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) when it was announced on Tuesday that he made the first team. Kowalowski is a graduate student from Saranac High School who completed his final year of eligibility with the Cardinals in May, and he is the lone representative on the College or University Division teams from a New York state-supported institution.

Kyle Kowalowski

Click on the link to see complete ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Baseball Team: http://www.cosida.com/documents/2009/5/26/2009AAABaseballTeam.pdf

This prestigious CoSIDA program is selected by a special committee that considers candidates who made first-team academic all-region from one of eight districts. At the district level, student-athletes are chosen from CoSIDA members from NCAA Division II-III, NAIA schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Canadian schools of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Quebec. To be eligible, a nominee must have at least a 3.3 cumulative grade-point average, reach sophomore-year standing at their institution and be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic statistics.

Kowalowski adds to his list of postseason accomplishments that include American Baseball Coaches' Association/Rawlings All-New York Region Third Team, All-State University of New York Athletic Conference Second Team, three-time Academic All-SUNYAC and Commissioner's List.

Kowalowski this season led the Cardinals in batting average (.386), runs scored (36), hits (51), doubles (11), triples (2), RBI (36), total bases (72), slugging percentage (.545), walks (22) and on-base percentage (.481). A three-time All-SUNYAC winner, he ranked in the conference's top 10 in several statistical categories while having a career year at the plate.

The Plattsburgh Offensive Player of the Year, Kowalowski is a finalist for all-Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate and Robbins/ECAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year consideration.

At the time of his nomination, Kowalowski had a 3.77 grade-point average working toward a master's degree in counselor education, and compiled a 3.66 overall GPA while earning an undergraduate degree in psychology. He received the 2008 Richard D. Semmler Award for having the highest GPA for a graduating senior athlete at Plattsburgh.

Off the field, Kowalowski's extra-curricular activities include Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, Upward Bound tutor to acclimate prep seniors to college life and Buddy Walk participant to help raise money and awareness for the North Country Down Syndrome Association.

Kowalowski, the only three-time academic all-district choice in Cardinals baseball history, becomes the eighth Plattsburgh honoree in the CoSIDA Academic All-America program and only the second male winner (hockey goalie Niklas Sundberg was At-Large Second Team in 2002).