2 named Academic All-Americans

[Duke]

Two Lobos Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
UNM has had at least one representative each year since the 2003 season.


Nov. 20, 2008


The University of New Mexico men's soccer team put two student-athletes on the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American squad as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA). Senior Chris Wright earned second team honors while junior Simon Ejdemyr received first team recognition. The Lobos are the only program in the nation to have at least one representative on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team each year since 2003.

Wright joins Ben Ashwill (2002-05) as the only Lobos to earn three Academic All-American honors at UNM. He currently has a 3.94 grade-point-average, majoring in Portuguese. Wright was a third team selection in 2006 and on the first team last season. A 6-5 forward from Fair Oaks, Calif., Wright scored six goals and three assists for 15 points in 2008, earning second team All-MPSF honors. He made his mark on UNM's record books, ranking seventh in scoring with 68 points, fifth in goals with 26, sixth in shots with 148 and sixth in games played with 80.

This the second Academic All-American honor for Ejdemyr who was a third team honoree in 2007. He has a 4.12 g.p.a. in Political Science. Ejdemyr was named first team All-MPSF for the third time in his career in 2008. The 6-5 defender from Boras, Sweden, was slowed by a knee injury that cost him four games during the season. However, he still managed to post a career-high 11 points on five goals and one assist. Ejdemyr now has 19 career points with nine goals and one assist.

In order to be consider for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American recognition, student-athletes must have at least a 3.30 g.p.a. and be a significant contributor on the team.

A total of 10 student-athletes have earned 18 Academic All-American honors in Lobo history. Seven student-athletes have won 13 honors since head coach Jeremy Fishbein took over in 2002.

Still one of the finest accomplishments in the Fishbein era was four Academic All-Americans starting on New Mexico's 2005 College Cup team (Jeff Rowland, Matt Wootton, Ben Ashwill and Brandon Moss).

Below is a list of UNM's Academic All-Americans:
David Robertson - 1985 - Adidas Academic All-American
David Robertson - 1986 - Adidas Academic All-American
Steve Farrer - 1990 - GTE Academic All-American
Jason Hix - 1994 - GTE Academic All-American
Jason Hix - 1994 - Adidas Academic All-American
Ben Ashwill - 2003 - Academic All-American
Jeff Rowland - 2004 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Eric Carlson - 2004 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Ben Ashwill - 2004 - 2nd Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Matt Wootton - 2004 - 2nd Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Jeff Rowland - 2005 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Ben Ashwill - 2005 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Matt Wootton - 2005 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Brandon Moss - 2005 - 3rd Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Chris Wright - 2006 - 3rd Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Chris Wright - 2007 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Simon Ejdemyr - 2007 - 3rd Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Simon Ejdemyr - 2008 - 1st Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
Chris Wright - 2008 - 2nd Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American