May 19, 2011

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Senior long-stick midfielder Brian Karalunas (Dewitt, N.Y.) of the Villanova men's lacrosse team was named to the Capital One Academic All-District II At-Large First Team as announced on Thursday, May 19.

By virtue of his placement on the district's first team, Karalunas is eligible for the national Academic All-America ballot, which will be voted upon by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The 2011 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, Karalunas earned a degree in Honors and Philosophy from Villanova's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In 2010-11, Karalunas was named the American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award Winner. He is also a current finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award presented to the nation's most outstanding men's lacrosse student-athlete.

On the field, the reigning two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year finished his senior season with 74 ground balls and 70 caused turnovers, leading the NCAA averaging 4.38 takeaways per game. He also led in the same category during the 2010 season.

Karalunas' career numbers are even more impressive. He is Villanova and the NCAA's career leader in caused turnovers (153) and ranks ninth all-time at VU with 213 ground balls. Over the course of his career, Karalunas has also been a two-time USILA All-American while serving as a two-year captain of the men's lacrosse team. He will continue his playing career with the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse beginning on Saturday, May 21st.

To be eligible for the Academic All-America program, student-athletes must achieve sophomore standing at their current school and possess a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.3. Participants in fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling are eligible for the men's at-large program.