Amherst's Homchick, Trinity's Gire Earn CoSIDA Academic All-America Honors on Men's At-Large Team

Courtesy Amherst/Trinity Sports Information

HADLEY, Mass. – Amherst senior Tad Homchick (Mercer Island, Wash.) and Trinity senior Jacob Gire (Union City, Calif.) have been selected as members of the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Men's At-Large team presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Homchick, a member of the Lord Jeffs' men's swimming & diving squad, and Gire, a wrestler for the Bantams, were both part of the College Division Third Team.

Homchick becomes only the 19th Amherst College student-athlete named to a CoSIDA Academic All-America Team, an honor that has been awarded annually since 1952. He joins Amherst’s Michael Pohorylo ’04 (Third Team) as the only male NESCAC swimmers to have ever earned Academic All-America recognition.

Homchick played a significant role in leading the Amherst men’s swimming and diving team to the three best NCAA Championship finishes in program history. After the Lord Jeffs placed 10th at nationals in 2008, they rounded out the top five in 2009 and 2010. Homchick earned All-America honors in each of those years thanks to a trio of dominant performances in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as well as a solid showing in this year’s 400-yard medley relay.

A three-time NESCAC champion and eight-time All-NESCAC honoree, Homchick helped the Jeffs win the conference title in the 400 free relay in 2008 and 2009, as well as the 200 free relay in 2008. He is part of the group that holds the 400 medley relay NESCAC record, also boasting team records in the 50-yard freestyle, 200 free relay and 400 free relay. Homchick was named to the conference’s All-Academic Team as a junior and senior.

Gire, a 149-pound tri-captain for the Bantams, was also chosen as a member of the District I Men's At-Large First Team. Gire received the 2010 ECAC Award as Trinity's top senior male scholar athlete and a 2010 Bartlett Award for outstanding athletic excellence and community and/or campus service. Gire joined sophomore heavyweight Greg Vaughan (Hingham, Mass.) on the 2009-10 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National All-Academic Team, and joined junior Nick Stewart (Sharon, Mass.) on the NESCAC All-Academic Team.

He was also granted an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship this spring. The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season (fall, winter and spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.

Homchick graduated from Amherst in May with a degree in Economics, posting a grade point average of 3.81. Gire earned his degree from Trinity in Biology, maintaining a GPA of 3.99.

The 45 student-athletes named to this year’s Academic All-America First, Second or Third Team for the College Division boast an average GPA of 3.87.