James Steward became John Carroll's 46th Academic All-American and its 14th first team selection by virtue of earning his way onto the 2008-09 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® men's at-large college division squad.

Steward, who graduated in May of 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and owning a grade point average of 3.98, is John Carroll's third first team Academic All-American in the last four years, joining Ellie Fernandez (2006, women's track & Field/Corss country) and Paul Schroder (2008, men's golf) as the most recent recipient of this honor.

On the tennis court, Steward earned First-Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors for the fourth consecutive year, and was named the 2009 OAC Most Valuable Player. A member of the 2006 OAC title winning team, Steward woin 106 matches in his four years -- 56 singles and 50 doubles.

An Honors Program student at JCU, Steward made the Dean's List all eight semesters. He was a JCU General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry award winner, a Cleveland Clinic intern, and an ESPN the Magazine First Team Academic All-District IV choice in 2008.

At the conclusion of his career, Steward was designated by the John Carroll University athletic department to be a recipients of the Clyde A. Lamb Scholar-Athlete Award in 2009 -- the highest honor bestowed upon a student-athlete in the OAC (given annually to one male and one female athlete from each member institution)

The Academic At-Large classification covers the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

Nominees for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American program must be key contributors in their sport with at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for their career. In addition, the student-athletes must also have at least sophomore athletic and academic standing.
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