Oneonta's Sean Daly selected as an Academic All-American
ONEONTA, N.Y.—2011 SUNY Oneonta graduate, Sean Daly (Weedsport/Weedsport), has been selected as a Capital One Academic All-American® in the sports of Cross Country and Track & Field by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Daly, who was a second team pick last spring, earned first team honors this spring.
Daly is the first Oneonta State male athlete to earn national honors twice and the second male to earn first team honors. Last spring, 2010 graduate Josh Wake, became the first male to earn first team national honors as part of the At-Large program. The only other athlete to earn national honors twice was 2003 graduate, Lizbeth Oppenheimer, who was a two-time honoree in the sport of softball. Ten Oneonta State student athletes have earned national honors a total of 12 times since 1999.
Daly, who was a Capital One Academic All-District 1 First Team selection this spring, is a year-round athlete for the Red Dragons and is a top performer in both cross-country and track & field.
Athletically, Daly reached the pinnacle of track & field in 2009 when he was a part of Oneonta’s 1,600-meter relay that captured the NCAA Div. III national championship. In addition, he has been an All-Conference performer, ECAC and SUNYAC champion in track & field. At this spring’s annual awards ceremony in athletics, Daly was the recipient of the Dr. Joseph Heissan Senior Achievement Award, which is based on a four-year cumulative athletic and academic career as a student athlete at Oneonta.
Academically, Daly was recognized as a “Best & Brightest” student by the college in 2009 and 2010. He was named to the USTFCCCA Scholar Academic Team twice, was inducted into the National Student Athlete Honor Society of Chi Alpha Sigma while earning SUNYAC All-Academic and Commissioner’s List honors all four years.
Daly contributed to the athletics department and the college by serving on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, the Pre-Law Society and was one of two student athletes to serve on the Intercollegiate Athletics Board. He also was a student trustee on the College Foundation Board.
Daly, who majored in music industry with a minor in English, will be attending Villanova Law School in the fall to pursue a law degree.
To be eligible for nomination at the district level, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
A student athlete is eligible for the national ballot only if he/she is named to the first team in one of the eight CoSIDA districts. Only members of the Academic All-America Committee, the CoSIDA Board of Directors and past presidents are eligible to vote on the national ballot, which amounts to just over 100 voters.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men and women’s sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
