Navy wrestler Jacob Allen (Sr., Poway, Calif.), water polo player Peter Hillen (Jr., Orinda, Calif.) and tennis player Derrick Thompson (Sr., Towson, Md.) earned Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Tuesday. Allen garnered first-team recognition, while Hillen and Thompson received third-team laurels as part of the organization's at-large sports category. With these three awards, six Mids have earned Academic All-America recognition during the 2021-22 academic year.

The three standout athletes were placed on the national ballot after they earned all-district (II) recognition in May.

To be eligible for the initial district ballot, student-athletes must have attained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.30 through the end of the 2019 fall semester, be at a minimum a sophomore academically and be a starter or key reserve on their respective team.
 
The at-large sports program consists of women's beach volleyball, women's bowling, women's crew, fencing, women's field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, men's volleyball, water polo and men's wrestling. CoSIDA's District II consists of Division I schools located in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Each school is allowed to nominate up to four student-athletes for their respective men's and women's district ballots.

Navy was one of seven schools (4 Stanford / 3 Navy, Michigan, Texas / 2 Alabama, NC State, Penn State) to put multiple athletes on the first, second or third teams, and only one of four schools to have three or more athletes named Academic All-Americans.

A first-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and All-District II selection, Allen graduated in May with a degree in operations research. A three-time recipient of the EIWA's academic award (2019, '21, '22) and two-time NWCA Scholar All-American (2021, '22), he appeared on both the Superintendent's and Commandant's Lists all eight semesters. Allen, who owned a 4.00 cumulative grade-point average, was ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2022 (1,114 members) in Academic Order of Merit, No. 2 in Military Order of Merit and No. 7 in Overall Order of Merit.

Allen was a three-year starter for the Navy wrestling team, including the 2021-22 campaign that saw him push back down to 125 pounds after earning an NCAA berth in 2020-21 as a junior at 133 pounds. Allen, who served as the Mids' team captain in 2021-22, produced a 17-14 record his senior campaign that featured an individual title at the Bearcat Open, a second-place finish at the Franklin & Marshall Open and an eighth-place performance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Additionally, he scored a 5-1 decision over Ryan Chauvin to help lead Navy to a 22-9 victory over Army in the annual Star Match. Allen concluded his career with a 51-42 record and a 15-15 mark in dual action.

Allen is just the third Navy wrestler to garner Academic All-America laurels, joining Michael Woulfe (2015-16 / third team) and Corey Wilding (2017-18 / second team), and the first to be named to the first team. He was one of 11 wrestlers nationwide to earn one of the 47 spots on the first (15), second (15) or third team (17).

Hillen, who is a first-time Academic All-American, is a physics major who has amassed a 4.00 GPA. A three-year starter for the Navy water polo team, he is a three-time Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic Team honoree (2019, '20, '21). He is a five-time member of the Superintendent's List, while appearing on the Commandant's List six times and the Dean's List once. Hillen ranks No. 1 in in the Class of 2023 (1,051 members) in Overall and Academic Order of Merit.

In the pool, the defensive specialist registered six goals and three assists for nine total points in 2021, while finishing with 15 steals and six ejections drawn in 28 games. For his career, Hillen has tallied 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points, while registering 28 steals and 13 ejections drawn on defense in 61 contests.

Hillen, who is the only water polo player in the country represented on the list of 2021-22 Academic All-Americans, is the fifth different (6 total) Navy water polo player to garner the award and the first since Jackson Hummeldorf was named to the first team in 2012-13.

A first-time recipient of Academic All-America honors, Thompson posted a 3.72 GPA as a mechanical engineering major over the course of his four years at Navy. He joins Navy's Andrew Ton as the only men's tennis players in Patriot League history to have earned the league's four major individual awards: rookie of the year (2019), league tournament MVP (2019, '22), player of the year (2022) and scholar-athlete of the year (2022).  

The three-time first-team all-league selection was part of Navy teams that won league titles in 2019, '21 and '22 (there were no awards presented or league championship held in 2020).  Individually, he posted a 21-10 record in singles and a 23-11 record in doubles this season. Thompson concluded his career with an overall record of 78-21 in singles and 77-29 in doubles marks that included a 20-1 record in singles and an 18-4 in doubles when playing in Patriot League matches. His combined overall winning percentage of 75.61 percent is a school record.

Thompson is the fourth Navy men's tennis player to garner Academic All-America recognition, joining Andrew Ton (2020-21 / second team), Nick Birger (2010-11 / first team) and Mitchell Koch (1999-2000 / first team).


### Go Navy ###