Hope College linebacker Aaron O’Meara has earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America for the 2016 season.
The senior from Wyandotte, Michigan (Theodore Roosevelt) is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America voting. He was one of three linebackers chosen for recognition in the Division 6 district that includes Minnesota and Wisconsin.
O’Meara is a biology major who carries a 3.80 grade point average and is the leading tackler on the 5-3 football team. He plans to attend Physician assistant school after graduation.
O'Meara joins women's soccer Elizabeth Perkins as CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees this school year.
O'Meara has helped the Flying Dutchmen put themselves into contention for a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship this season after going winless in league play in 2015. Hope takes a 4-1 league record into Saturday's MIAA finale at Albion.
O'Meara is averaging a MIAA-best 10.6 tackles per game this season. He has totaled 85 tackles, including 10 for negative yardage and 3 ½ sacks.
In May, O'Meara and teammate Brandon Ellsworth received Hope College's annual "Social Sciences Young Investigators Award" for investigating the normal functioning of the peptide amyloid beta, which has been found at elevated levels as a plaque in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
O'Meara has made the MIAA Academic Honor Roll as a junior, sophomore and freshman.
The Academic All-District™ teams include the student-athletes listed on the following pages and are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the sixth year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.
The Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program. First-team Academic All-District™ honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.