Tuesday, July 6, 2021

AUSTIN, Texas – Establishing a new bar for academic and athletic achievement for their institutions, Seattle Pacific senior Travis Swallow and Northwest Nazarene junior Lorenzo Valentini have earned selection to the College Sports Information Directors of America’s (CoSIDA) Division II Academic All-America Men’s Soccer Team.

Swallow is a repeat selection to the second team while Valentini was elected to the third team. The two student-athletes are among three named to the squad from Division II’s West Region conferences.

Swallow, who has a 3.94 GPA as a business administrator, is the first three-time men’s soccer Academic All-American in GNAC history. In addition to his repeat second-team accolades, Swallow was named a Third Team Academic All-American in 2018.

Swallow helped lead Seattle Pacific to a 3-2-1 record in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. A starter in five of the six matches, Swallow finished with two goals and an assist. He scored the opening goal and assisted on the game-winner in the Falcons’ 3-1 win at Saint Martin’s on April 21. A regular starter for SPU each of the last three seasons, Swallow owns career totals of five goals, four assists and 14 points.

Valentini, who has a 3.95 GPA as a recreation & sport management major, is just the second men’s soccer Academic All-American for Northwest Nazarene in the GNAC era. A starter in all seven of the Nighthawks’ 2021 matches, Valentini scored three goals to help led NNU to a 4-2-1 record. In his two seasons in Nampa, Valentini has started all 24 possible matches with eight goals, one assist and 17 points.

Nominees for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program must be of sophomore eligibility or greater, must be in their second year at the nominating institution, must be a starter or important reserve for their team and must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or greater. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, student-athletes were nominated based on career statistics rather than statistics from just this season.