Oct. 30, 2008
BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins men's soccer senior Akash Naik (Simpsonville, SC/Hillcrest) and sophomore Scott Bukoski (Sagamore, MA/Bourne) were named to the CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II Team it was announced on Thursday. The pair earns first team honors and qualify for the national ballot, with the national team due to be announced Nov 19. Bukoski is the only sophomore on the District II First Team.
The District II region includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. To be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.3 or higher cumulative grade point average and be a starter or significant reserve.
Bukoski and Naik are the 15th and 16th Blue Jays to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and just the eighth and ninth to earn first team honors. This marks the third straight season that JHU has had a first team selection.
A co-captain this season, Naik has started all but one game this season for the 10th-ranked Blue Jays. He's scored three goals and added three assists from the midfield this season and has 33 career points (12g, 9a). Naik is a two-time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll selection and a Dean's List student. He has volunteered in the Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Hospital and at the Meyer Center for Special Children. In addition, he completed an internship with an orthopedic surgeon last summer. Naik is majoring in economics and boasts a 3.78 cumulative GPA.
Bukoski leads Johns Hopkins and the Centennial Conference in goals (9) and points (23). He already ranks 13th in JHU history with 69 career points and is tied for ninth with 29 career goals. As a freshman in 2007, he led JHU and the conference in goals (20) and points (46). A First Team All-Centennial and NSCAA All-Region pick in 2007, Bukoski was just the fifth player in program history to score 20 or more goals in one season. A biology major with a 3.41 cumulative GPA, he has volunteered at the Cape Heritage Nursing Home.
Johns Hopkins wraps up its regular season on Friday night as it hosts Washington College at Homewood Field. The Centennial Conference match-up is slated for a 7:00 pm start. The Blue Jays can secure the #2 seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament with a win.
