WINONA, Minn. – Over the past four years, Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.) has developed a rather impressive 1-2 punch as a student and as an athlete.
 
As a student, the Saint Mary's University senior boasts a perfect 4.0 grade-point-average as biology major.
 
As an athlete, Szymanski has been the on-the-field leader for the Cardinal men's soccer team — leading the team in virtually every offensive category.
 
And Thursday morning, Szymanski was recognized for that student-and-athlete combination, being named Academic All-District® by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA).
 
The 2021 Academic All-District® Men's Soccer Team, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
 
The Academic All-District® selection is the second post-season award of the week for Szymanski, who was named an honorable-mention All-MIAC pick on Tuesday.
 
Playing in his final season as a Cardinal, Szymanski closed out 2021 with a team-leading seven goals and 15 points, and was one of just three SMU players to start all 17 contests. Szymanski ended his illustrious four-year collegiate career with 21 career goals, ranking him tied for fourth all-time, while his 50 career points leave him sitting seventh all-time.
 
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference  dominated the District 6 All-District team, landing nine of the 11 spots. Joining Szymanski from the MIAC were Justin Crawmer, Charlie Hall, and Marco da Cunha from Carleton, Gustavus' Cole Schwartz and Trace Dobson, St. Olaf's Austin Williams, Saint John's Aidan Becken, and Macalester's Will Orser.
 
First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in early December.