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May 22, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Five student-athletes from the Naval Academy were recognized Thursday for their accomplishments in the classroom and on the playing field this year by being named to one of the ESPN the Magazine's Academic All-District II Teams for at-large sports, as selected and announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Swimmer Kelly Zahalka (Jr., Richmond, Va.) and rower Kerry Hannon (Jr., Bethesda, Md.) were named to the women's first team, while golfer Chris Renninger (Sr., Darnestown, Md.) and water polo player Eric Gardiner (Sr., Upland, Calif.) were first-team all-district selections in the men's balloting. Additionally, rower Fiona McFarland (Sr., Southampton, N.Y.) garnered second-team women's honors.

The four first-team selections are now placed onto the respective men's and women's national ballots where they will vie for Academic All-America honors. Renninger received Second-Team Academic All-America accolades in 2007, with Zahalka earning third-team laurels last year.

To be eligible for the initial district ballot, student-athletes must have attained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.20, be at least a sophomore academically and a starter or key reserve on their respective team. The at-large sports consists of women's bowling, women's crew, fencing, women's field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, men's volleyball, water polo and men's wrestling. CoSIDA's District II consists of schools located in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Zahalka has achieved a 4.00 GPA during each of her six completed semesters at Navy and is ranked third in her class on the Academy's Overall Order of Merit (a combination of academic and military rankings). An honors history major who is minoring in Chinese, Zahalka was tabbed as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for her sport in both 2007 and '08 and recently was selected as one of 65 national recipients of a Truman Scholarship based upon "leadership potential, intellectual ability and likelihood of making a difference." As a Truman Scholar she will receive a scholarship to attend graduate school and the opportunity to have an internship with a government agency.

Zahalka has been equally successful as a member of the swimming team. Selected as the 2007 Patriot League Swimmer of the Year, she has totaled six individual event and four relay event titles during her career at the Patriot League Championship and has never finished lower than fourth place in an event at the meet. She holds Navy records in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley events, with her time in the 400 IM also being a league record, and has totaled 70 individual event victories during her three-year career.

Hannon has attained a 4.00 GPA in a pair of semesters at Navy and has accrued a 3.63 cumulative GPA as an applied math major. She has been named to the Academy's Superintendent's List four times and to the Dean's List once, while being tabbed as a National Scholar-Athlete by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association in 2007 (the list of 2008 National Scholar-Athletes has yet to be announced).

Hannon has competed with the varsity boat during each of her three seasons with the Navy rowing team. The crew compiled a 13-4 record during the 2008 regular season and placed second at the Patriot League Championship for the third consecutive season. Individually, she received All-Patriot League accolades following the 2006 and '08 league regattas.

A member of Navy's Superintendent's List in each of the last four semesters, McFarland attained a 4.00 GPA during the recently completed spring term and totaled a 3.64 GPA over her academic career as an international relations major. She was recognized as a National Scholar-Athlete by the CRCA in both 2006 and '07 and earned Second-Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region accolades from the organization in 2006.

McFarland, who will become a surface warfare officer in the Navy, picked up her third All-Patriot League nod this spring after helping the varsity boat to a second-place finish at the league championship. The captain of the rowing team this year, she also was a member of the varsity boat that won the league title in 2005 and placed second in both 2006 and '07.

Earlier Thursday, McFarland was recognized as the 2008 recipient of the Vice Adm. Lawrence Sword, which is presented to the woman of the graduating class declared by the Association's Athletic Committee to have personally excelled in athletics during her years of varsity competition. She is the first athlete who competed solely with the rowing team to receive the Lawrence Sword since it was first presented in 1980.

Ranked No. 1 in the academic order of merit and fifth overall among his class of more than 1,000 students, golf team captain Renninger boasts a 4.00 cumulative grade-point average in chemistry. The 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American has appeared on the Commandant's List seven times, including six straight semesters, has garnered Dean's List mention four times and has been on the Superintendent's List four times. The 2007 Patriot League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year will once again appear on this year's ballot after being named the Patriot League Men's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.

Renninger also capped a stellar career on the course with a strong senior season in which he led the Mids to their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2003. Having played in all 11 tournaments, he owned Navy's third-lowest scoring average with a 77.2. His top event was a seventh-place finish out of 86 golfers at the Scotty Duncan Memorial in October. After earning All-Patriot League status in 2006 and 2007, Renninger finished 22nd in the Patriot League Championship to help lead Navy to its fifth overall title. Meanwhile, he placed 122nd at the NCAA Championship a week ago, playing his best round on the final day.

Renninger has received a medical corps billet and upon graduation will be attending the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Like Renninger, Gardiner also has attained a 4.00 cumulative GPA while ranking first in his class academically and ninth overall. Perhaps Navy's most-accomplished water polo player in the classroom in school history, Gardiner was named to the Superintendent's and Commandant's lists in each of his eight semesters and received both the NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship (one of just two water polo players nationally to earn the accolade) and a Marshall Scholarship. The latter award will allow him to study next year at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he will pursue a Master of Arts Degree in Terrorism, Violence and Security. After his one year at Queen's, he will remain in the United Kingdom to study international relations at either Cambridge or Oxford.

Following the completion of his graduate studies, Gardiner will report to Coronado, Calif., where he will begin his military career as a Navy SEAL.

In the pool, Gardiner appeared in 31 games and made eight starts for the Midshipmen this past fall. He finished the 2007 season with 19 points (10 goals, 9 assists), ended his career with 41 points (27 goals, 14 assists) and helped Navy to the last two NCAA Tournaments.