WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Bradley Bowen and Brian Stater, two senior captains on the men's soccer team at Whitman College, have been named to the Academic All-District Team.
Bowen and Stater are two of the 11 players named to the Academic All-District First Team in the College Division of District VIII. That district includes all NAIA and NCAA Div. II and Div. III schools in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona, as well as British Columbia.
Players on all-district teams from around the nation are eligible for election to the Academic All-America Team. National voting takes place later this month.
"Both Brad and Brian were appointed captains this year and did a tremendous job in re-focusing this team to achieve some new goals for the future," Whitman coach Mike Washington says. "Both players will be missed. Each is truly a consummate team player."
Bowen, a graduate of Bozeman (Mont.) High School, is double majoring in politics and rhetoric & film studies at Whitman, where he has a cumulative grade point average of 3.63. Stater, a graduate of Marist High School in Eugene, Ore., is majoring in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology. Stater has a cumulative grade point average of 3.78.
Bowen, who started the season as Whitman's defensive sweeper, later moved to the midfield to cover for an injured teammate. He scored the game-winning goal in Whitman's 1-0 victory over Northwest College, and he also contributed an assist to a 2-1 victory over Lawrence University.
Last spring, Bowen was one of about 80 college juniors in the United States who received a Harry S Truman Scholarship for post-graduate studies. After graduating from Whitman, he plans to attend law school, focusing on public interest and civil rights litigation. Last summer, he worked in Washington, D.C., in the office of U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT).
Bowen is serving his second one-year term as president of the student government at Whitman. He is the first student body president at Whitman to serve two consecutive terms. Bowen, who also served two terms as president of the Whitman Civil Liberties Union, is one of two students who served this past year on a college search committee that helped select Whitman's next president.
Bowen has managed soccer and his many academic interests in impressive fashion, Washington says. "Brad has inspired his teammates with his ability to dedicate himself to his tasks. As a player, Brad plays the same as he studies; hard work is all he knows. He has brought players back together."
Stater, a defender, was one of three Whitman defenders who booted goals in a 3-1 Northwest Conference victory over Pacific University early in the season.
"Brian has been very steady as a player," Washington says. "One of the strengths to his game is that he doesn't make many mistakes. His ability to play in the air is very good, and as the years have gone by, his technical skills have become much stronger."
As a member of Whitman's club snowboarding team, Stater helped Whitman win the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboarding Association (USCSSA) national title in 2002. Stater also earned USCSSA academic honors that season.
Stater, who plans to attend medical school after Whitman, assisted an Eugene, Ore., neurologist during the summer of 2003 on research on new guidelines for classifying the narrowing of carotid arteries, using ultrasound technology. Last summer, Stater worked with Whitman professor Jim Russo on research to increase the efficacy of retinoic acid therapy in patients with one form of leukemia.
Bowen is the son of David and Magdalena Bowen of Bozeman, Mont.
Stater is the son of William and Barbare Stater of Eugene, Ore.
This marks the second consecutive season that two members of the Whitman men's soccer team have earned spots on the academic all-district team. Last fall, senior defenders Tyler Chisholm and Pat Flanagan were honored.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) administers the Academic All-America program.