PURCHASE, N.Y. – Senior defenseman Anton Racklin (Gothenburg, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)) of the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team was honored for the second consecutive season for his work in the classroom on Thursday, earning a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District Men’s At-Large team, as selected and announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Racklin was named a first-team selection in District 3, making him one of only 10 Division III student-athletes to receive the honor in one of eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. As a result of his selection, Racklin advances to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be selected early next month.
The At-Large team is arguably the hardest of any ballot to be selected for, as on the men’s side it includes eligible student-athletes from all of the following sports: fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. To be nominated, student-athletes must be of at least sophomore standing, have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale), and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games as a starter or important reserve.
Racklin is the fourth Valiant student-athlete in department history – and second this year – to be named a two-time Academic All-District pick, joining Rosaria Callara ’15 (softball), Johnny LoVetere ’13 (baseball) and Michael Capozzi ’12 (men’s tennis). He is the 19th Academic All-District selection in department history and accounts for two of the three all-time selections from the Valiant men’s hockey team.
The senior co-captain had another solid season for Manhattanville as a senior, scoring three goals with six assists for nine points from the blue line. He tied for the team lead and ranked 12th in the ECAC West Conference in defenseman scoring.
In three years with Manhattanville, Anton racked up 15 goals and 40 assists for 55 career points, ranking him third all-time in scoring among defenseman at the College. Boasting a cumulative 3.96 GPA as a finance major, he was named Manhattanville’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a junior and is a two-time ECAC West Conference All-Academic Team pick.
Racklin’s selection makes him the 10th Valiant to earn Academic All-District honors in the last five years, more than doubling the amount of honorees in program history since 2011. The Capital One Men’s At-Large Academic All-America selections for Division III will be announced on June 10, with Racklin looking to become the sixth Academic All-American in program history.
