May 27, 2003

WACO, Texas - Baylor senior Ross Bennett was named to the 2003 Verizon Baseball Academic All-America First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and announced Tuesday.

Bennett, third on the team with a .376 average, is just the third Bear to earn first-team academic all-Amierca honors in program history. He joins Charley Carter (1998) and Jason Jennings (1999) on that short list. Pat Combs and Jon Topolski are the only other academic all-Americans in Baylor history (Jennings and Topolski were each two-time selections).

A senior from Cape Girardeau, Mo., Bennett has 11 doubles, two triples and four home runs to go along with 46 RBI. A biochemistry/pre-dental major, Bennett's earlier earned his second-straight Academic All-District First Team selection. He is also a three-time Academic All-Big 12 first team honoree (2000, 2002, 2003).

The all-district and all-America teams honor student-athletes who are not only standouts on the field, but also in the classroom. To be considered for selection to an all-academic team, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for his/her career. No athlete is eligible until he/she has reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution (thus, true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible transfers are not eligible). In the cases of transfers, graduate students and junior college graduates, the athlete must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to be eligible. Awards are voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.

A complete listing is available at www.CoSIDA.com.