GOSHEN, Ind. – The honors continue to roll in for the Goshen College Athletics Department as three more student-athletes have been selected to the 2012 Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American teams for the College Division.

Juniors Jake GunderKline (Yellow Springs, Ohio) and Erin Helmuth (Elkhart, Ind.) were both picked to the Cross Country/ Track and Field First Team, while classmate Sam Jones (Timber Lake, S.D.) was one of 16 third-team members.

Helmuth was the only female from the Mid-Central College Conference to land on the first team – six MCC honorees overall - while GunderKline was one of two on the first time with Jones helping bring the MCC men's total to six.

The College Division of the CoSIDA Academic All-American program is comprised of NAIA and two-year institutions from across the United States and Canada.  To be eligible for the Capital One Academic All-American teams, a student-athlete must be nominated by his sports information director as a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).

The only Goshen College student-athlete to ever be picked as First Team Academic All-Americans prior to this year was Mark Schloneger in baseball in 1997.  Men's soccer student-athletes Jan Dohnal and Greg Thiessen and softball student-athlete Jana Beitler were recognized as first team selections this season.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 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 CoSIDA's website.

Jake GunderKline (Interdisciplinary Studies) - Recently named Maple Leaf Male Athlete of the Year, GunderKline earned All-American honors at both the NAIA Indoor (3k) and Outdoor (5k) National Championships.  He has broken his own school record in the race walk (3k and 5k combined) five times this year, while also helping Goshen to a runner-up finish at the MCC Cross Country Championships.  He is a three-time All-American, six-time national qualifier, and four-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Erin Helmuth (Secondary Education/Math) - Helmuth was the national runner-up in the 3k race walk at the NAIA Indoor National Championships earning her second-straight Indoor All-American honor.  She was also an important member of the Maple Leafs cross country team and is a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Sam Jones (Theater) - Jones had a breakout year in the high jump where he qualified for the NAIA National Championship both indoor and outdoor.  He set a new program record of 6-6 3/4 in the indoor season, while equalling Goshen's all-time best of 6-7 outdoor.  Jones also won a jump off to win the MCC Championship and is an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.