Wezly Barnard named to Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America® Men's Soccer Third Team

2011 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America® Men's Soccer National Teams

TOWSON, Md. – Young Harris College's Wezly Barnard has been named to the Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America® Men's Soccer Third Team.Barnard is the first Mountain Lion ever to be selected to one of the Academic All-America® national teams.

The Capital One Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011-12 Division II Academic All-America® teams program. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.30 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or a significant reserve on his team. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America® honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

Barnard, a 5-foot-11 junior goalkeeper from Boksburg, South Africa, started 16 of the 17 matches he played for the Mountain Lions this season. He allowed just 24 goals in 1,527 minutes this season for a 1.41 goals against average which recording three shutouts for Young Harris. He tallied 77 saves for the Mountain Lions as he put together a .762 save percentage. Barnard, who is also the co-president of the college's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this year, has a 3.90 cumulative grade point average as a business and public policy major.

"Wezly has been an integral part of everything the men's soccer program is trying to achieve - excellence on the field and in the classroom," said head coach Mark McKeever.  "He is a great role model for our incoming players.  As a student-athlete he has been an inspirational figure with all that happens on the field but more importantly he values how his education will impact the rest of his life.  

"He is walking proof of what I continually express to my players - hard work is the first ingredient to success," added McKeever."Wezly's work ethic, presence, and integrity have set a standard for others in the program to strive towards."

Young Harris finished the 2011 season with an eight-match improvement over 2010 as the Mountain Lions went 10-6-1. They were the first YHC team to be regionally ranked since the college became a four-year institution when they were ranked as high as No. 6 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's NCAA Division II Southeast Region this season.