November 30, 2007

Jackets’ Charles Tabbed Academic All-American

BILLINGS, Mont. – Not only is Montana State Billings men’s soccer player Sam Charles a stand out player on the soccer field, he is also intelligent in the classroom.  Charles has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Third team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Sam Charles

The College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America program divides the country into eight districts.  Sports Information Directors from each of the eight districts select their Academic All-District teams with student-athletes from the eight first teams advancing to national balloting for Academic All-America honors.  Charles, a sophomore forward from Weymouth, England was named to the CoSIDA District VII first team earlier in the month, placing him on the national ballot for Academic All-America. 

The CoSIDA College Division includes all schools in NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA.  Schools from Montana are part of District VII, which also includes Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Nominees for the District VII College Division could come from any Division II, Division III, or NAIA school in any of those states. 

Charles is majoring in Health and Human Performance and has a 3.81 cumulative grade point average.  Charles has played in 34 games in two seasons, starting 33 and has been the Yellowjackets’ leading scorer both seasons.  Charles’s 19 goals for the 2007 season led the GNAC in scoring and his 41 points ranks second in conference history.  He also holds the school record for goals scored in a single season surpassing the previous record of 15 that had stood since 1998.   Charles also became just one of five players in Yellowjacket history to score a hat-trick, and just one of three to ever score two in the same season.  He also holds the school record for single season points (41), goals per game (1.19), and consecutive games with at least one goal scored (8).  Scoring 26 goals in two seasons, Charles is just nine goals shy of tying the school record for career goals scored at 35.

The Yellowjackets finished the 2007 season with an overall record of 13-4-1 and were 5-2-1 in their first season in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  It was the first winning season in the program’s 12-year history.  MSU Billings also achieved its first ever regional ranking in 2007 ranking as high as fourth in the Far West Region. 

Click HERE for the complete CoSIDA release