June 26, 2007

VILLANOVA, Pa. - After graduating from Villanova this past May, Drew Eckman continues to receive recognition for his outstanding performances in the classroom and on the track. The men's track and field standout has recently been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men's Track and Field/Cross Country Third Team. Eckman stands alongside 44 additional student-athletes across the nation who comprised the three prestigious teams in the university division.

Upon Eckman's recent departure from Villanova, he took with him a degree in biology, in which he held a cumulative grade point average of 3.62. His most recent accolades include being named Villanova University's 2007 Male Student-Athlete of the Year and 2006-07 BIG EAST/Aéropostale Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for his brilliant academic performance. As a reward for his BIG EAST honor, Eckman will be granted a $4,000 scholarship to be used towards graduate or professional studies, in which he plans to put towards dental school. Eckman has also been on the Dean's List every single semester and was an active member of the Alpha Epsilon Delta Honor Society for pre-med and pre-dental students during his stint as a Wildcat.

His accomplishments on the track read no differently than that in the classroom. The Oxford, Pa. native has left his mark on the BIG EAST indoor and outdoor realms. In his 2005 and 2006 indoor campaigns, Eckman clinched BIG EAST titles in the 500m and 4x400m, respectively. His indoor performances carried over to his outdoor season as his relay team captured the 4x400m in the 2006 conference outdoor championships. Eckman is also a two-time All-American in the Indoor DMR, in which he accumulated third place finishes in this event at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2004 and 2006. At this spring's highly competitive Penn Relay Carnival, Eckman was part of the DMR that placed a dramatic second to a renowned Texas program.