Fuchs Earns Academic All-America Kudos

News Release Date:
Friday, June 12, 2009

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- For the fourth time in six years, a member of the nationally ranked Whitman College men's tennis team has earned Academic All-American honors.

Christoph Fuchs

The latest recipient is Christoph Fuchs, a team captain who helped Whitman advance this spring to the NCAA Division III national playoffs for a third straight season.

A biology major (chemistry minor) from La Center, Wash., Fuchs was named to ESPN The Magazine's All-American "At-Large" Third Team in the College Division, which includes all NCAA Division II and Division III schools, as well as all NAIA and two-year colleges, in the U.S. and British Columbia.

The At-Large team represents student athletes in a variety of sports, including golf, skiing, gymnastics, ice hockey, swimming, lacrosse and tennis.  

Fuchs and one of his teammates, Justin Hayashi, became eligible for Academic All-American honors earlier this spring when they were voted to the Academic All-District First Team for District VIII, which covers the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona, and British Columbia. Hayashi, an Asian studies major, graduated in May.

Fuchs and Hayashi, an Asian studies major from Kirkland, Wash., were key contributors this spring as Whitman rolled through a third consecutive 16-0 NWC regular season, won a second straight conference tournament title, and finished with a 24-5 record overall.

Sam Spiegel (Vancouver, B.C.) and Brad Changstrom (Boulder, Colo.) are other Whitman tennis players who earned Academic All-America honors in recent years. Both players were honored at the end of the 2003-04 academic year, which capped Spiegel's senior season. Changstrom finished his playing career in 2004-05, reaping All-American honors for a second straight year in June 2005

Tennis player Robbie Munday (Okanogan Falls, B.C.), a 2007 graduate, twice earned Academic All-District honors at Whitman.

Christoph Fuchs

Fuchs, a biology major (chemistry minor), has maintained a 3.87 cumulative grade point average at Whitman, which ranks him among the top five of all varsity athletes on campus. 

Playing his third season of college tennis this spring, Fuchs was a regular in both singles and doubles. He was 9-3 in singles, which included a 7-1 record against NWC foes, and he teamed with sophomore Quin Miller for a 9-8 mark in doubles (6-1 NWC), often playing the opposition's top doubles duo.

Fuchs, who has senior academic status at Whitman, will not complete his degree requirements until the 2010 spring semester, when he plans to play his fourth college season. He will pursue medical school studies after his Whitman graduation.

Fuchs worked last summer at the University of Louisville's Brown Cancer Center, assisting with breast cancer research aimed at developing predictive tests for cancer's responsiveness to treatment.

He wrote his senior honors thesis on his research, which was funded through the Whitman Internship Fund and the University of Louisville's Institute for Molecular Diversity and Drug Design.

In the summer of 2007, Fuchs was a volunteer nurse's aide at a hospital in Offenburg, Germany, as part of a program required of German students for medical school eligibility. Fuchs, who is fluent in German, handled duties ranging from feeding patients and taking vital signs to shadowing physicians on their rounds and assisting with surgeries.

This summer Fuchs plans to shadow physicians at a hospital near his home in La Center, Wash., and volunteer at a free medical clinic.

While at Whitman, Fuchs has mentored two at-risk boys as part of the Friends of Walla Walla program. 

Fuchs, who was home schooled before coming to Whitman, is the son of Dr. Axel Fuchs and Valerie Fuchs of La Center.

The College Sports Information Directors of America administers the nominating and voting process for the Academic All-America program, which is in its 58th year and has honored about 15,000 students at all levels for all recognized NCAA sports. 

Whitman, affiliated nationally with NCAA Div. III, is the top liberal arts & sciences college in the Northwest, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of colleges and universities.

Recent news reports by the Seattle Times and USA Today credit Whitman with having the highest graduation rate of any private or public college or university in the state of Washington.  

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
holden@whitman.edu; (509) 527-5902