Russell earns Academic All-American

Provo, UTAH -- BYU senior diver Aaron Russell was named to the Third Team 2002-2003 Verizon Academic All-America Men's At-Large University Division.

Russell, a graduate student in Portuguese, maintained a 3.52 GPA as a student athlete at BYU. This was Russell's second academic honor as he also earned Verizon Academic All-America honors in 2000.

To qualify as a candidate for the Academic All-America honor, a student athlete must carry a minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average, be a starter or a significant reserve, and be in their second season at the school.

In his final season at BYU, Russell earned first team all-conference honors in the Mountain West Conference and was named MWC Diver of the Year after winning the 1-M, 3-M, and platform events at the MWC Championships. In the platform, Russell set a new MWC record this year.

This season Russell finished fourth on the 1-M springboard at the NCAA Championships, awarding him first-team All-America honors. The senior was also named a second-team All-American in his performance in the 3-M event.

Russell plans to finish up his graduate degree at BYU and attend law school in the fall of 2004.