AUSTIN, Texas - After a season of setting many career records on the field, senior Diamond Gent Michael Schimpf punctuated his career with a first for Centenary off the field. Schimpf became the first Maroon and White athlete to receive First Team Academic AllAmerica� honors, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and released Wednesday, May 31.
A CoSIDA Second Team Academic AllAmerican in 2016, Schimpf also becomes the first Centenary athlete to receive this honor twice.
"It is a fitting way for the 'Gent of the Year' to end his Centenary athletic career," said Director of Athletics and Recreation, Dr. Bob Bunnell. "What he accomplished in four seasons as an athlete was laudable enough, but it is truly great to see Michael take that same dedication and success to the classroom. I cannot wait to see what he accomplishes in law school and beyond."
Receiving his Centenary degree from Dr. Bunnell at the 2017 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, Schimpf graduated with a 3.94 GPA with degrees in history and French on April 29. He has also been CoSIDA Academic AllRegion the past two seasons.
"This prestigious award is such a fitting conclusion to Michael's career," said head coach Mike Diaz. "In my 13 seasons here, we have had many special players on the field and many exceptional classroom guys. Michael has clearly put himself in a category that few Centenary student-athletes can compare with. I'm so proud of Michael's many career accomplishments and have been so blessed to have him as a part of our program and my life. Like I have said before, Michael exemplifies everything that athletics strives to be here and Centenary should feel privileged to have had Michael here for these years and now excited to have him as an alumnus."
Last week, Schimpf received Second Team All-America accolades from D3Baseball.com as an outfielder. He finished with a .405 batting average in 2017, becoming only the second player to lead the conference in batting average for a season twice in his career. He was the only player in the SCAC with an on-base percentage above .500, finishing sixth in the nation at .547. Schimpf finished second in the SCAC to other Gents in runs scored (54, 21st in the nation), RBI's (48, 41st in nation), and slugging percentage (.622).
Schimpf completed his four years in a Gents uniform ranking in the top-10 in numerous categories in the Centenary career annals, including first with 53 hit-by-pitches, second with 166 runs and eight triples, third with 223 hits and 300 total bases, sixth with a .366 batting average and with 34 doubles, and 10th with 37 stolen bases. Schimpf was named All-Conference all four seasons, being named to the First Team three times (2014, 2016-17) and Second Team once (2015). He appeared on the SCAC All-Tournament team his sophomore through senior seasons.
Last season, Schimpf joined an elite list of athletes who have been named Academic All-America in Centenary's athletic history. John Buckwalter (Gents basketball) received Third Team honors in 1991, while Kristy Risner (Ladies softball) and Marcos Rodriguez (Gents soccer) were Second Team honorees in 1994 and 2011, respectively.
