May 12, 2005

ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine had three student-athletes named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Baseball and Softball teams that were announced on May 12. For baseball, Aaron Izaryk and Ryan Quintal were both named First Team Academic All-District. From softball, Brittany Cheney was named Second Team Academic All-District.

Izaryk, a senior catcher from Markham, Ontario, is batting .326 with 29 runs scored and 21 RBI. He leads the Black Bears with a .988 fielding percentage and ranks second on the team with 13 doubles. Izaryk, who is co-captain of the team, was named the M Club Dean Smith Award winner earlier this season, given to the top male and female student-athletes at Maine. In 2004, he was named the America East top scholar-athlete in baseball. Izaryk has been named to the America East first team twice and once received second team honors. He has twice been selected to the America East All-Tournament team. Izaryk is a three-time Maine Scholar-Athlete award winner and has been named to the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. As a freshman he was named a Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. Izaryk is a kinesiology and physical education major.

Quintal, a junior outfielder from Manchester, N.H., ranks second on the team with a .349 batting average. He has scored 34 runs and is tied for the team-lead in RBI with 33. Quintal leads the Black Bears with 16 doubles and has hit five home runs. He leads Maine with 22 multi-hit games and has eight multi-RBI games. Quintal is a two-time Maine Scholar-Athlete and has also been named to the America East Academic Honor Roll. In 2003, Quintal was named to the America East All-Rookie team. He is a business major.

Cheney, a junior shortstop from Abington, Massachusetts, leads the Black Bears with a .316 batting average and also has the team lead with 20 RBIs. She has the team lead with a .470 slugging percentage and also has a .945 fielding percentage. For the second straight season Cheney has been named to the America East All-Conference first team, and as a freshman in 2003 was named to the second-team and to the All-Rookie team. She has been named to the America East Academic Honor Roll the past two seasons and is a Maine Scholar-Athlete. Cheney is a psychology major.

Student-athletes named to the first-team will be placed on the national ballot for Academic All-America Honors, which will be announced at the end of May.