CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Ivy League has
announced the names of 80 student-athletes – including 10
from Harvard – who have been named to the spring 2012
Academic All-Ivy League team.
The honorees are starters or key reserves on officially
recognized varsity teams who have cumulative grade-point averages
of at least 3.0. Each of the eight Ivy League schools nominates
five men and five women from it eligible student-athletes.
Representing the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national
champion men's lightweight crew, senior Tim Moore and junior
Nicholas Gates garnered Academic All-Ivy status. Moore, a native of
Exeter, N.H. and a social studies concentrator, was named to the
All-Ivy League first team and was the six-seat of the Harvard
lightweight crew that won the national, Eastern and Ivy League
titles and went 9-0 against dual competition.
Gates, who hails from Ross, Calif., and is a chemistry
concentrator, also earned All-Ivy first team honors and was the
five-seat of the Crimson lightweight squad, helping Harvard to the
IRA, Eastern and Ancient Eight crowns, as well as post a perfect
record during the dual season.
Matt Jones, a senior on the men's volleyball team and an
applied mathematics concentrator, became Harvard's all-time
kills (1,218), digs (452) and service aces (97) leader, while also
ranking in the Crimson's all-time top-10 for kills per set
(third), block assists (third), total blocks (fourth) and solo
blocks (seventh). Following the season, in which the Crimson earned
the first national ranking in program history, Jones, who ranked
ninth in the country in kills (3.83) and aces (0.42), earned
All-Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association first team
honors and was named to the EIVA All-Tournament team.
Senior Brendan Kopp, an All-American on the sailing team, led
Harvard to its first New England championship in 11 years as top
skipper and captain. A first-team All-New England choice and native
of Fairfield, Conn., Kopp also helped the Crimson to a fifth-place
finish at the national championships.
Jonathan Pearlman, an economics concentrator from Palm Beach,
Fla., received All-Ivy first team accolades in singles as a member
of the Crimson men's tennis team. Pearlman, who played
exclusively at No. 1 for Harvard during his senior season, also
went 10-4 in doubles during the dual schedule. Pearlman and the
Crimson, who earned a ranking as high as No. 16, reached the second
round of the NCAA tournament after winning the Ivy League
crown.
Seniors Jane Alexander and Rachel Brown of the softball team
garnered Academic All-Ivy League status after helping the Crimson
reach the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. Alexander,
the 2012 Ivy Co-Player of the Year, earned Capital One Academic
All-America third team honors, as well as Academic All-District
first team accolades. A two-time All-Ivy honoree, Alexander, a
psychology concentrator who hails from Palo Alto, Calif., started
every game at shortstop in 2012 and led the team in hits (61) and
batting average (.381).
Brown, a senior from San Diego, Calif., was named the Ivy League
Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season. A team captain
and a psychology concentrator, Brown was named to the Capital One
Academic All-District team for the second consecutive year and
received her fourth straight unanimous nod to the All-Ivy first
team. She finished ninth in the nation in strikeouts per game (8.8)
and holds virtually every pitching record at Harvard including wins
(75), saves (10), complete games (71), shutouts (26) and strikeouts
(995).
Melanie Baskind, a senior on the women's lacrosse team, as
well as a neurobiology concentrator, was tabbed the Intercollegiate
Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete of the
Year. A second team All-Ivy selection and second team IWLCA
All-Region pick, Baskind, who served as team captain, led Harvard
in points (33), assists (six) and caused turnovers (15), while
ranking second in goals (27) and ground balls (37). A three-time
Ivy Defensive Player of the Week choice, Baskind was tabbed to the
Ivy League All-Tournament team and earned Capital One Academic
At-Large All-America first team and At-Large All-District first
team honors.
Baskind, who also starred on the soccer pitch for the Crimson,
earned three Academic All-Ivy honors and was the unanimous choice
as Ancient Eight Player of the Year in 2011, helping Harvard win
its third conference title in four years.
Representing women's heavyweight crew, Jill Carlson, a
senior from Newton, Mass., was tabbed first team All-Ivy and first
team All-New England. A classics concentrator, Carlson, who served
as team captain, was the coxswain of the Radcliffe heavyweight
varsity eight that won the program's first Ivy title since
2003 and placed ninth at the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Bonnie Hu of the women's golf team won the
individual title at the Ivy League Championships (77-73-75-225) and
was named to the All-Ivy first team. An economics concentrator who
hails from Fremont, Calif., Hu was also second on the Crimson at
the NCAA Central Regional, shooting 81-81-76-238 over three days of
competition.