SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth golfers Sean Thompson and Steven Johnson have been named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Men's At-large Academic All-District VIII College Division team, and Thompson has also been named a Division III Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

Sean Thompson

Steven Johnson

Thompson, a junior from Greenaces, Wash. (Central Valley), has a 3.76 grade point average in business management. Johnson, a sophomore from Marysville, Wash. (Marysville-Pilchuck), has a 3.85 GPA as a double major in theology and math. The pair are joined on the CoSIDA Men's At-Large team by swimmer David Dolphay (see related release), giving Whitworth three of the ten student-athletes on the team.

Thompson was a key contributor to the Pirates' third consecutive NWC championship in men's golf. He tied for fifth individually at the conference tournament with a score of 222.

Johnson led Whitworth to the 2007 conference team title by winning medalist honors at the NWC tournament with a three round score of 218. He went on to finish 52nd at the NCAA Division III men's tournament in Indiana.

The ESPN The Magazine Men's and Women's Academic All-District VIII At-Large College Division teams included ten individuals selected from sports without their own specific Academic All-District teams, including swimming, tennis, water polo, gymnastics, golf, wrestling and skiing. The individuals are nominated by their institutions' sports information directors and the 10 selections are made by a subsequent vote of district SIDs. District VIII in the college divisions comprises all non-NCAA Division I institutions west of the Rocky Mountains.

This year marks the 56th year of the Academic All-America program. Over 15,000 students have been named Academic All-America team members at colleges and universities at all levels for every recognized NCAA sport.

To be eligible for Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status an individual must be a junior or senior academically and competed in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70-percent of his teams competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championship, have a stroke average under 79.0 in Division III and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.