Oct. 30, 2008

SEATTLE - Washington men's soccer players Rylan Hawkins and George John were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII first-team, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Thursday.

Hawkins, a junior goalkeeper, has a 3.90 grade point average and is majoring in computer engineering, while John, a senior midfielder, has a 3.42 grade point average and is a business administration major. Both players now move onto the ballot for national ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

It is the first such honor for Hawkins who is also a two-time first-team selection to the Pac-10 All-Academic team the last two years. He has started five matches for the Huskies and logged 428 minutes in goal this year, grabbing 10 saves and recording a 0.84 goals against average. Hawkins has also recorded two of the team's three shutouts this season.

John is a second-time selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first-team, also earning the honor as a sophomore in 2006. A team co-captain and a preseason candidate for the Hermann Trophy, John started the first 13 games before going down with a knee injury that required surgery last week. He has tallied two goals and one assist this season, and will hope to return for either the Huskies' regular season finale with Oregon State, Nov. 14, or potential postseason play.

Washington has a bye this week and returns to action next week in the Bay Area against Stanford (Nov. 7) and California (Nov. 9). The Huskies have an 8-5-2 overall record and are currently in second-place in the Pac-10 standings with a 3-2-2 league record.

2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII Team
Rylan Hawkins, Washington, GK, Jr., Shoreline, Wash., 3.90, Computer Engineering
Dylan Curtis, UC Davis, MF, Sr., Pleasanton, Calif., 3.38, Managerial Economics
George John, Washington, MF, Sr., Shoreline, Wash., 3.42, Business Administration
Ryan Callahan, Oregon State, MF, Sr., Lafayette, Calif., 3.45, Business Administration
Hiroki Akiyama, San Jose State, MF, Sr., Muroran, Japan, 3.32, Kinesiology
Daniel Leach, Oregon State, Sr., D, Scarborough, Australia, 3.63, Psychology
Stephen Carlson, Loyola Marymount, D, Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii, 3.51, Civil Engineering
Tim Kelly, Oregon State, D, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz., 3.61, Business Administration
Corey Attaway, UC Irvine, D, So., Chino, Calif., 3.51, Criminology, Law and Society
Daniel Cruz, UNLV, F, So., Glendale, Ariz., 3.73, Criminal Justice
Spencer Thompson, UC Irvine, F, So., Ahwautekee, Ariz., 3.40, Business Economics
Brian Martin, Santa Clara, F, Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., 3.90, Finance