GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 2, 2024) – Gavin Jones, Christian McIntire, Tyler Distenfeld and Max Soja of the Denison University men's swimming & diving team were each picked for the 2023-24 Academic All-District® Team, selected by College Sports Communicators.


Gavin Jones is a junior from Bellingham, Washington, who holds a 3.98 GPA as an economics and communication double major. A three-year national team member (2022, 2023, 2024), Jones is a five-time NCAA Division III All-American who scored 14 points and earned four Second-Team All-American certificates at the 2024 NCAA Championships last month. In addition to finishing 14th at nationals in the 400 IM during each of the last two years, Jones added an 11th-place national finish in the 200 breaststroke and a 12th-place time in the 200 IM to lead the Big Red with three individual All-American certificates this season. He is a three-time All-NCAC performer as well. A junior class representative for the Denison men's swimming & diving team, Jones is now a two-time Denison Top-50 Scholar-Athlete (2022-23, 2023-24) after this year and has also been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team in back-to-back years as well. He has been named to the Dean's List in each of his first five semesters at Denison (Fall 2021 - Fall 2023), was a member of the 2022-23 NCAC Academic Honor Roll, and is a currently a two-time CSCAA First-Team Scholar All-American (2021-22, 2022-23). He was inducted into the Phi Society in the Fall of 2022 and earned the 2022 Denison Men's Swimming & Diving Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. Jones is a senior consultant at Denison's Red Frame Lab, is a member of Denison's Investment Club, is a Mission 34 ambassador, and is a men's swimming & diving representative for Denison's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (DSAAC), where he has helped volunteer to help with Denison's Special Olympics for the past two years.

Jones' NCAC Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAC Championship: 200 Breast (2nd), 400 IM (3rd)
• 2023 NCAC Championship: 200 IM (2nd)

Jones' NCAA Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAA D-III Championship: 800 Free Relay (9th - 2nd Team), 200 Breast (11th - 2nd Team), 200 IM (12th - 2nd Team), 400 IM (14th - 2nd Team)
• 2023 NCAA D-III Championship: 400 IM (14th - 2nd Team)

Christian McIntire is a junior from Nashville, Tennessee, who holds a 3.57 GPA in data analytics. A 2024 national team member, McIntire's career accomplishments so far include scoring for the team at the NCAC Championship meet in both 2023 and 2024, winning the NCAC championship in the 500 freestyle this past season, and earning Second-Team All-American honors with a 14th-place finish in the 500 freestyle at this year's NCAA National Championships. McIntire has made the Dean's list at Denison in the Spring of 2023 and the Fall of 2023, was a 2022-23 CSCAA Second-Team Scholar All-American, and was a member of the 2022-23 NCAC Academic Honor Roll. He is also a member of Mission 34 on campus and has helped lead the Licking County Special Olympics as a member of the Denison Student Athlete Advisory Council (DSAAC).

McIntire's NCAC Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAC Championship: 500 Free (1st)

McIntire's NCAA Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAA D-III Championship: 800 Free Relay (9th - 2nd Team), 500 Free (14th - 2nd Team)

Tyler Distenfeld is a junior from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, who holds a 3.87 GPA in biology. A two-year national team member (2023, 2024), Distenfeld is now a five-time NCAA Division III All-American who finished ninth in the 1,650 freestyle and 10th in the 500 freestyle at NCAA's this season. He is also a six-time All-NCAC performer who brought home the conference championship in the 200 freestyle at this year's NCAC meet. Distenfeld has been named to the Dean's List in each of his first five semesters at Denison (Fall 2021 - Fall 2023), was named a CSCAA First-Team Scholar All-American in 2023-23 and was a Second-Team Scholar All-American in 2021-22, was a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2022-23, and is now a two-time Denison Top-50 Student-Athlete (2022-23, 2023-24). Distenfeld is a member of the Denison Food Recovery Network and the Global Living Community, and will be doing on-campus research this summer with Denison's Biology department.

Distenfeld's NCAC Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAC Championship: 200 Free (1st), 500 Free (2nd), 400 Free Relay (2nd), 800 Free Relay (2nd)
• 2023 NCAC Championship: 200 Free (2nd), 500 Free (2nd)

Distenfeld's NCAA Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAA D-III Championship: 800 Free Relay (9th - 2nd Team), 1650 Free (9th - 2nd Team), 500 Free (10th - 2nd Team)
• 2023 NCAA D-III Championship: 1,650 Free (11th - 2nd Team), 800 Free Relay (11th - 2nd Team)

Max Soja is a junior from Flemington, New Jersey, who holds a 3.78 GPA in Health, exercise and sport studies (HESS). A two-year national team member (2023, 2024), Soja is a three-time NCAA Division III All-American, including twice in 200 butterfly, and a two-time All-NCAC performer in the 200 butterfly. This year, Soja was the NCAC runner-up in the 200 butterfly and was 13th at nationals in the 400 IM in addition to finishing 16th in the 200 butterfly for the second year in a row. He has been a member of the Dean's list at Denison three times (Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023), is a member of the Phi Society (Fall 2022), was a 2022-23 CSCAA First-Team Scholar All-American and a 2021-22 CSCAA Second-Team Scholar All-American, was a member of the 2022-23 NCAC Academic Honor Roll, and was a 2022-23 Denison Top-50 Scholar-Athlete. Soja has been a teaching assistant for statistics, a leader in Dr. Eric Winters' HESS research group, and is also involved in a program called the "Food Recovery Network". He is also working on creating a program in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Newark to organize swim lessons and practices for those of any age and interest in the hopes of saving young lives. Drowning is the number one reason for deaths among children 1-5 years old, and Soja's main goal for the program is to make sure to teach crucial life-saving skills to keep those numbers from growing. Soja hopes that this will inspire a new group of youths to become involved in a wonderful sport that has taught him so many valuable lessons, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of belonging, time management and endless happy moments, and he says that saving even one life will be worth the time and effort it has taken to make this program from an idea to fruition. Upon returning home after this semester ends, Soja is scheduled to take the MCAT. His plan and dreams are to become an orthopedic surgeon and to hopefully give back to his community, those who are less fortunate, and those who have served and fought for our country.

Soja's NCAC Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAC Championship: 200 Fly (2nd)
• 2023 NCAC Championship: 200 Fly (3rd)

Soja's NCAA Accomplishments:

• 2024 NCAA D-III Championship: 400 IM (13th - 2nd Team), 200 Fly (16th - 2nd Team)
• 2023 NCAA D-III Championship: 200 Fly (16th - 2nd Team)

The 2023-24 Academic All-District® Men's Swimming & Diving Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the pool and in the classroom. Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced on April 24, 2024.
 
2023-24 Academic All-District® Men's Swimming & Diving Teams