Bateman earns first-team honor, Moore named to second-team and Bonanno selected to third team

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior gymnast Jake Bateman moved up to the first-team and swimmer Sean Moore was the only sophomore named to the second team of the 2009 ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-America At-Large selections, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Tuesday. Senior goalie Liana Bonanno was a third-team selection announced Thursday, becoming the first women’s hockey player to earn Academic All-America honors.

A native of Kingsport, Tenn., Bateman was a two-time All-American gymnast and a two-time first team All-Big Ten selection for Ohio State. A biology major with a 3.78 grade point average, he earned an NCAA post-graduate scholarship and will attend dental school at the University of Tennessee in 2010. Bateman, who was a second-team honoree in 2008, becomes the first Ohio State gymnast to receive a first-team recognition since Jamey Houle in 2004. He was a four-time OSU Scholar Athlete and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Bonanno is graduating with a degree in physics with a 3.96 GPA. A two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District IV selection, the Mount Sinai, N.Y., native has been honored three times by the Ohio State Physics Department for her achievements: the Helen Cowan Book Award (freshman year), Smith Sophomore Award and Tom and Bunny Clark Scholarship (junior year). She is one of just 70 OSU undergrads accepted into the Honors Collegium within the Honors and Scholars Program. A three-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete and WCHA All-Academic Team member, Bonanno also was named a two-time Scholar All-American by the American Women’s Hockey Coaches Association.

Moore, a 4.0 business major from Englewood, Colo., earns his first career Academic All-America honor as a second-team selection. He was a two-time All-American in 2009 with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA championships on the 3m springboard and a 14th-place finish on the 10m platform. A Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree after taking second on the platform at the championship meet, Moore had two first-place finishes on the 1- and 3-meter during the dual meet season and five Top 5 finishes on the 1-meter and seven on 3-meter boards. He set Ohio State’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion records on the 3-meter (450.30) and platform (464.35) this season. Moore also was the 2008 NCAA 10-meter platform national champion with an NCAA record score of 478.20 points.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.