Villanova lacrosse senior earns first team honors

Senior long-stick midfielder Brian Karalunas (Dewitt, N.Y.) is one of 15 student-athletes to be named to the 2011 Men's At-Large Capital One Academic All-America® First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Karalunas is the first Villanova student-athlete to be named to the First Team since Kristen Haynes in 2005. 

The Men's At-Large program for the Academic All-America team includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis and water polo. The Capital One Academic All-America® University Division first team has five student-athletes with 4.00 GPA's or better. The 15 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.926. 

Karalunas graduates Villanova with a 3.94 cumulative GPA while being named to the Dean's List every semester. Among his many academic honors, Karalunas is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Additionally, 2010-2011 American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year is an awards proctor for the Villanova Special Olympics Fall Festival - the largest student-run Special Olympics festival in the United States. 

Karalunas finishes his career as the most decorated men's lacrosse student-athlete in program history. He is Villanova's first three-time USILA All-American and garnered back-to-back BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 and 2011.

On the field, the long-stick midfielder finished his senior season with 74 ground balls and 70 caused turnovers, leading the NCAA averaging 4.38 takeaways per game. He is Villanova and the NCAA's career leader with 153 caused turnovers and ranks ninth all-time at VU with 213 ground balls. Additionally, Karalunas was also honored the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse.           

During his four years with the team, Karalunas led the Wildcats to their first two NCAA postseason appearances in program history during the 2009 and 2011 seasons and helped Villanova reach their highest ranking at No. 7 in the USILA Coaches poll in 2011. Karalunas is currently continuing his professional athletic career with the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, where he has started in both contests with the team. 

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.