Andrew Gear, A Westminster Local, Earns Academic All-America® Honors

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Andrew Gear

ST. MARY'S CITY, MD. (06/13/2013)(readMedia)-- Towson, Md.  – St. Mary's College of Maryland junior Andrew Gear (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) became the school's fifth Seahawk to earn Academic All-America® honors as Gear was named to the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Men's At-Large First Team. The teams were announced Tuesday afternoon (June 4, 2013) by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Gear follows in the footsteps of former Seahawks – Sean Keehan (1994), Ryan Olsen (2001), Kathy Holmes (2001 and 2002), and Mike Broccolino (2008). Gear is only the second Seahawk to pick up first team honors as Holmes landed on the Academic All-America ® Women's At-Large First Team in 2002.

Gear was one of 15 student-athletes picked for the Academic All-America® First Team while being the only student-athlete to represent the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). However, senior golfer Brian Jaeger of future conference member, Christopher Newport University, earned a spot on the third team.

Today's honor comes on the heels of Gear's selection to the Capital One Academic All-District® First Team on May 16. His selection to the District 2 (Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island and West Virginia) First Team is what advanced Gear to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot.

Gear, a 6-3 member of the men's tennis team, is a triple major in English, political science, and public policy with a flawless 4.0 cumulative grade point average. He is a member of two national honor societies on campus – Chi Alpha Sigma, the national collegiate student-athlete honor society for juniors and seniors, and Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society.

Gear is also a St. Mary's Scholar, an honor bestowed upon juniors and seniors who have earned at least 32 credit-hours and whose cumulative GPA is 3.50 or better. He has also made the Dean's List every semester as well as being named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete in 2011 and 2012 and garnering a spot on the Capital Athletic Conference All-Academic Team three times.

Gear is already the school's all-time leader in singles ( 56) and doubles (45) wins while holding single-season records with 21 singles victories in 2011-12 and 17 doubles triumphs this season with his partner, first-year Mark Hardesty (Westminster, Md./Westminster). He was selected as the 2012-13 St. Mary's Male Athlete of the Year as well as the CAC Co-Player of the Year.

A four-time conference all-star, Gear was named the 2010-11 St. Mary's Rookie of the Year as well as the CAC Rookie of the Year. He earned first team All-CAC honors at singles in 2010-11.

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About Capital One: Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletic programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 18,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.