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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Student-Athletes Named Academic All-Americans
6/21/1999 | Track and Field
June 15, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. - Sebastien DeChaunac a junior on the Ole Miss men's tennis team, and Calvin Thigpen, a four-year letterwinner on the Rebel men's track and field squad, have been named to the GTE/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Men's At-Large First Team for the spring sports season.
DeChaunac and Thigpen were among 15 student-athletes selected to the Academic All-America first team from eight districts across the country. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must be in their second year of competition at their institution, be a contributing member of their team and hold at least a 3.2 grade point average.
Ole Miss was the only school in the nation to have two athletes on the first team for the second year in a row. Thigpen made the first team last year along with former tennis standout Johan Hede. DeChaunac and Thigpen were one of four student-athletes from the SEC to make the first team, while a total of seven made the second and third teams.
DeChaunac, a native of Aix-en-Provence, France, holds a 3.85 grade point average in Economics and posted a 4.0 this spring while ending the year ranked No. 3 in the nation in singles. He led the Rebels to a final national ranking of No. 6 and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championships. DeChaunac finished the year with a 22-7 overall record and earned All-America honors. He won the 1998 SEC Singles title and earned All-SEC first team accolades. An integral member of Ole Miss' SEC Championship teams in 1996 and 1997, DeChaunac was the 1997 SEC Tournament MVP and helped guide the Rebels to the NCAA Championships semifinals in 1997. DeChaunac holds a career singles record of 93-18 in three seasons and has received All-America, All-SEC and SEC Academic Honor Roll distinction the past two seasons.
A native of Jackson, Miss., Thigpen graduated this year with a perfect 4.0 grade point average in Chemistry. This past academic year, Thigpen served as Ole Miss' Associated Student Body President while competing for the Rebels in track and field. Thigpen recorded a personal-best time of 32:51.43 in the 10,000 meters and also had a season-best time of 15:54.16 in the 5000 meters during the outdoor season. He had a personal-best time of 15:30.9 in the 5000 meters in the Rebels' indoor campaign. A four-year letterwinner, Thigpen has been named to the Chancellor's Honor Roll (3.75-4.00) gpa) every semester and is a three-time selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. In the fall of 1997, he was selected to the University's Hall of Fame, which is the highest honor an Ole Miss student can receive. Thigpen, who was a member of six honor societies on campus, was also active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).
The following is the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America Team:
FIRST TEAM: Daniel Anderson, Tennis, Virginia Commonwealth, Sophomore, 4.00, undecided; Steven Baldas, Tennis, Georgia, Senior, 3.55, Finance; Michael Bonanni, Lacrosse, Maryland, Grad, 3.52, Business Management; Barry Cantrell, Track, Fordham, Senior, 3.47, Accounting/Finance; Sebastien DeChaunac, Tennis, Ole Miss, Junior, 3.85, Economics; Ryan Gabel, Tennis, Bowling Green, Senior, 4.00, Finance; Brian Gallagher, Track, LaSalle, Grad, 4.00, Psychology/Spanish; Steve Jorio, Lacrosse, Georgetown, Senior, 3.64, Finance/Govt.; Tim Jenkins, Tennis, Colorado, Senior, 3.99, Pre-Med; Neal McNamara, Tennis, Southwest Missouri State, Senior, 4.00, Accounting; Derrick Mitchell, Track, Fresno State, Senior, 3.60, Chemistry/Pre-Med; Mattias Ohlsson, Track, South Carolina, Senior, 3.90 Mechanical Engineering; Kevin Sullivan, Track, Michigan, Senior, 3.50, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Calvin Thigpen, Track, Ole Miss, Senior, 4.00, Chemistry; Errol Williams, Track, Notre Dame, Senior, 3.71, Accounting.
SECOND TEAM: Chris Bender, Tennis, Rhode Island, junior, 3.95, Ocean Engineering; Kevin Betts, Track, Georgia Tech, Junior, 4.00 Mechanical Engineering; Jake Bunting, Lacrosse, Drexel, Junior, 3.84 Finance; Phil Carter, Track, Tennessee, Senior, 3.94 Mechanical Engineering; James Cook, Track, Penn State, Senior, 3.45, Kinesiology; Thomas Dupre, Tennis, Mississippi State, Senior, 3.25, Interdisciplinary Studies; Dave Emanuelson, Golf, Northern Illinois, Sophomore, 4.00, Finance/Economics; Tom Hand, Tennis, LSU, Sophomore, 4.00, Political Science; Robert Howard, Track, Arkansas, Senior, 3.57, Microbiology; Jerome Jourdon, Tennis, South Carolina, Sophomore, 3.88, Business Administration; Joey Pitts, Tennis, Georgia, Sophomore, 4.00, Biology; Ivan Poullaos, Tennis, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Junior, 4.00, Chemistry; Jason Rexing, Track, Notre Dame, Senior, 3.48 Mechanical Engineering; Ian Roberts, Track, Coppin State, Senior, 3.77, Criminal Justice; Dylan Williams, Tennis, Providence, Senior, 3.87 Economics
THIRD TEAM: Jeremy Anderson, Golf, UNLV, Sophomore, 3.38, Business Management Xavier Avila, Tennis, Kansas, Senior, 3.83, Honors Economic & European Studies; Harold Drumm, Lacrosse, Massachusetts, Senior, 3.82, Exercise Science; Brendon Falconer, Track, Kent, Senior, 3.45, Accounting; Herbert Forster, Golf, Pacific, Senior, 3.89, Sport Sciences; Josh Johnson, Track, UCLA, Senior, 3.41, Sociology; Russell Johnson, Track, Tennessee, Junior, 3.82, Exercise Science; Jon Judisch, Track, Northern Iowa, Senior, 3.84, Pre-Med; Ramin Kazemi, Tennis, Towson, Senior, 3.87, Biology; Richard McDonald, Track, Texas A&M, Sophomore, 4.00, General Studies; Kian Raiszadeh, Tennis, California, Senior, 3.73, Biology; Vesa Rantanen, Track, Minnesota, Junior, 3.48, Psychology; Mike Seymour, Track, Cincinnati, Senior, 3.45; Chemical Engineering; Staffan Strand, Track, Minnesota, Sophomore, 3.89, Computer Engineering; Joe Wirgau, Track, North Carolina State, Senior, 3.88, Chemistry.
