HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Coker College men's tennis player Tom Sizeland has been named to the 2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-District at-large team. Sizeland was selected to the first team in District 3 of Division II.
"This award is a direct reflection of the hard work and dedication Tom puts in, both on the court and in the classroom," said head men's tennis coach Bill Simpson. "Tom is one of the finest young men I have had the pleasure of coaching and has set the bar high for the future of Coker men's tennis."
Sizeland, a senior, has a 4.0 grade-point average and will graduate Saturday (May 14) with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a pre-medicine concentration. He was named the 2015-16 Scholar Athlete of the Year at Coker's FANG Awards and is a four-year member of Coker College's Deans List. He has also been named to the conference honor roll all four years, once in Conference Carolinas and three times in the SAC.
On the court, the Hamilton, New Zealand native finished the 2015-16 season with a 17-3 record at No. 2 and 3 singles and a 13-7 record at No. 2 doubles. For his efforts, Sizeland was named to the All-SAC first team at singles and teamed up with Mark Watt at No. 2 doubles to earn second team honors. He finished his Coker career with 46 singles wins, placing him atop the all-time wins list for the Navy and Gold.
As a first-team selection, Sizeland automatically advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first, second and third team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
Tom is the son of Wilma and Peter Sizeland
This is the fifth year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.
Coker falls into District 3, which consists of Division II schools from the South Atlantic Conference, Peach Belt Conference and Conference Carolinas.