ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College Sports Communicators (CSC) recognized six Macalester College men's soccer student-athletes with NCAA Division III Academic All-District accolades, the CSC announced today. Seniors Alex Beck-Ruiz (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) and Nick Kent (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park), juniors Chris Frantz (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove), Zach Liptzin (Denver, Colo./Northfield) and Michael Myers (San Rafael, Calif./Marin Catholic), and sophomore Jonathan Kim (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) earned the honor.

Student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically; have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.50; and have played in 90 percent of their team's games or have started at least 66 percent of their team's games to be considered for Academic All-District and Academic All-American accolades.

Beck-Ruiz emerged as a key contributor to Macalester's backline, starting all 22 games as an outside defender. In the season's first two games he registered an assist against Linfield and scored a goal versus St. Norbert. Beck-Ruiz, who is majoring in economics, made the Academic All-MIAC team as a sophomore and junior.

This is the third Academic All-District award for Kent, who was named to the All-MIAC Team for the fourth time this fall. He is one of just 19 men's soccer players to make the All-MIAC Team four times in the history of the conference. The Scots' starting central defender since his arrival on campus, Kent also has made the All-Region team twice. A statistics and computer science double-major, Kent also is a two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree.

Frantz tallied six goals for the third straight season, adding four assists for 16 points. He assisted on the game-winning goal that sent the Scots to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a win over UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 16. Last year Frantz, a physics major, received All-MIAC honorable mention and earned a spot on the Academic All-MIAC team.

Liptzin had a breakout season, scoring eight goals to rank second on the team and receive All-MIAC honorable mention. He scored twice in a 3-0 win at Gustavus on Oct. 18 and tallied the game's first goal in a 2-1 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 15. A biology major, Liptzin was included on the Academic All-MIAC team last year.

Myers is a repeat selection on the Academic All-District team after also earning Academic All-MIAC accolades as a sophomore. This fall he played in all 22 games and started 13 of the final 14 games as an outside defender. Myers assisted on the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory at Saint Mary's on Sept. 30. He is majoring in both economics and mathematics.

Kim contributed two goals and three assists while playing in all 22 games and earning a start at UW-Superior on Sept. 10. He notched two assists in a 6-2 victory at Concordia on Oct. 15 and scored goals against Linfield in the season opener on Aug. 29 and in a 3-0 win over Carleton on Sept. 27. Kim is an economics major at Macalester.

Click here to view the CSC Academic All-District release.