May 25, 2006

2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Men's At-Large Teams
2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Women's At-Large Teams

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Four Harvard student-athletes have been voted to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District at-large first teams, tying for the most selections of any school in any division and district in the country. Senior tennis player Melissa Anderson, junior swimmer Noelle Bassi and sophomore fencer Emily Cross were voted to the District 1 University Division women's team by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Senior swimmer David Cromwell represented Harvard on the men's team.

All four student-athletes advance to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America ballot. Harvard's three selections to the women's team also matches the national high for any school.

Anderson, Harvard's all-time leader in wins, brings a combined singles and doubles record of 192-59 into Thursday's NCAA Championships first-round doubles match. She and doubles partner Elsa O'Riain are 32-6 this season and ranked No. 3 in the nation. A government concentrator from Sydney, Australia, Anderson is ranked 92nd in the country in singles with a 21-3 record in dual matches. She was selected to the All-Ivy League first team in doubles and the second team in singles.

Bassi was the 2006 Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet and earned her second straight All-America honor with a 14th-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly at the NCAA Championships. In addition to the 200 fly, the psychology concentrator also won the 400 individual medley and placed second in the 500 freestyle at Ivies. Bassi, a Franklin Lakes, N.J., native ,holds Harvard records in all three events.

Cross earned the bronze medal in foil to lead Harvard to its first NCAA fencing championship in 2006. She is a two-time World Junior champion, first team All-American and first team All-Ivy selection and concentrates in biology. Cross, a New York City native, was the only sophomore chosen to the women's District 1 first team.

Cromwell, placed fourth in the 100 and 200 backstrokes to earn a 20th-place finish for Harvard at the NCAA Championships and tally the sixth and seventh All-America honors of his distinguished career. For the second time in three years, he shared the Moriarty Award as the top point-scorer at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships, as he won both backstrokes. Cromwell hails from Missoula, Mont., and will graduate with a degree in history.

All four Crimson honorees led their teams to league titles this season. Anderson's women's tennis team and Cross's fencing team took Ivy League championships with unblemished league records. Bassi and the women's swimming team put together their second straight 10-0 year and took the Ivy dual meet championship. Cromwell and his men's teammates tied Princeton for the EISL dual meet crown.

Five of the 10 selections to the women's first team and four of the 10 picks on the men's side were Ivy Leaguers. With track and field selections still left to be announced, Harvard has had a league-high 12 student-athletes chosen for the various ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams in 2005-06.