Senior center fielder Justin Held (Hudson,
Ohio/Hudson) was named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-America third team as selected by The College Sports
Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). This marks Held's first
appearances on the Academic All-American squad after earning
first-team All-District status the past two years.
After making the move to second base last season, Held returned
to center field which is where he spent the majority of his senior
campaign. The Hudson, Ohio native hit .385 (50-for-130) with six
doubles, four triples and one home run. The two-time Acamdeic
All-District also scored 25 runs, drove in 16 more and swiped seven
bags all while compiling a .515 slugging percentage and a .453
on-base percentage. Held finished his tenure in Granville with 148
hits, 89 runs scored, 54 RBIs and 110 starts in three seasons. His
11 career triples rank second on the school's all-time list while
his .365 career batting average is good enough for fifth all-time
at Denison. The two-time all-North Coast Athletic Conference
selection has a grade point average of 3.88 and is majoring in
economics.
Held became the 54th Academic All-American selection from
Denison. The senior is also just the fifth baseball player to earn
Academic All-American honors joining Joel Norton (2000), Adam
Mandel (2004), A.J. Jezierski (2006) and James Clear (2008).
Created in 1952 by the College Sports Information Directors
of America (CoSIDA), the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America
Teams Program is premier, nationwide college scholar-athlete awards
program. It recognizes 816 outstanding student-athletes annually in
Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship
sports.
