St. Mary's senior tennis standout Andrew Gear, Christopher Newport field hockey midfielder Marlene Lichty and York sophomore men's lacrosse attack Tyler Hutson were named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America At-Large team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Gear earned first-team recognition in his second-straight season on the Capital One Academic All-America team, Lichty was a second team pick for the first time, while Hutson was a third-team choice as a first-time Academic All-American. 

At-Large honorees are chosen from a pool of over 22,000 student-athletes competing in the 13 NCAA sports that do not have their own specific Academic All-American program.

Gear follows in the footsteps of four former Seahawks – Sean Keehan (1994), Ryan Olsen (2001), Kathy Holmes (2001 and 2002), and Mike Broccolino (2008) – to have earned Academic All-America® honors. He is also only the second St. Mary's student-athlete to pick up the Academic All-America® award twice as Holmes landed on the team twice in 2001 (women's soccer) and 2002 (women's at-large).

He is also a two-time Capital One Academic All-District® Men's At-Large First Team award winner after gaining the award for the second consecutive year on May 15th. Earlier this week, Gear was voted by the CAC athletic directors and sports information directors as the 2013-14 CAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Gear is the third St. Mary's student-athlete in the last four years, and fourth overall, to garner the CAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors since the award's inception in 1992. Sean Keehan (basketball in 1994), Sam Burum (basketball in 2011), and Peter Windsor (lacrosse in 2012) were the previous award recipients from St. Mary's.

He graduated on May 17th as a triple major in English, political science, and public policy with a flawless 4.0 GPA during his four-year career. Gear spoke at St. Mary's commencement as the Class of 2014 co-valedictorian while being honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on May 14th with the Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award for the Atlantic South region.

Gear is a member of four national honor societies on campus – Chi Alpha Sigma, the national collegiate student-athlete honor society for juniors and seniors; Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society; Pi Alpha Sigma, the national political science honor society; and Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society.

He will earn his fourth straight CAC All-Academic Team honor as well as his fourth consecutive ITA Scholar-Athlete award later this summer. Gear is also a two-time St. Mary's Scholar, an honor bestowed upon juniors and seniors who have earned at least 32 credit-hours and whose cumulative GPA is 3.50 or better.

Gear made the Dean's List every semester and received the 2013-14 Public Policy Award, an award established in 2000 to recognize academic excellence in the interdisciplinary major of public policy. He will be attending University of Virginia School of Law in the fall.

On the court, Gear left the Seahawk men's tennis program as the school's all-time leader in singles (69) and doubles (56) wins. This year's SMCM Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, he was selected as the 2012-13 CAC Co-Player of the Year; the 2012-13 SMCM Male Athlete of the Year; the 2010-11 CAC Rookie of the Year; and the 2010-11 SMCM Rookie of the Year. Gear finished his career as a five-time all-star.

Lichty becomes the first field hockey player in Christopher Newport history to earn the national recognition following a tremendous senior year both academically and athletically. She was one of only six field hockey players to earn the award this year.

A highly-decorated midfielder, Lichty is only the fourth Captain in school history to earn Academic All-American honors. Track & field standout Casey Taylor was a two-time At-Large honoree in 1999 and 2000, Brian Jaeger received an At-Large award as a golfer in 2013, and Evan Moog was honored as a football player in the fall.

The academic award caps off an incredible senior year for Lichty. Piecing together one of the most decorated campaigns in CNU history, the Chesapeake native stockpiled awards for her efforts both in and out of the classroom. She was named a third-team NFHCA All-American for the second straight year and also earned first-team All-Region, All-Conference, and All-State nods. A 2014 graduate of CNU with a degree in computer engineering, she was also named to the NFHCA National All-Academic team to go along with her Academic All-Region and All-American honors.

As a senior, Lichty was a driving force behind Christopher Newport's record-breaking 2013 campaign. A starter in all 23 games, she ranked second on the squad with 1,539 minutes of action, which also stands as the second-most in a single-season in CNU history. During that time, she compiled 19 points, including seven goals. Three of her scores were game-winners, highlighted by clinchers against No. 18 Catholic on October 2 and No. 7 Salisbury on October 16.

A strong postseason performer as well, Lichty helped lead the Captains to their first-ever appearance in the Final Four and earned a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament team for her success in the playoffs. Later, she competed in the NFHCA Senior All-Star Game and was the Division III Field Hockey Woman of the Year nominee by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards presented by Honda.

Her decorated senior campaign was a fitting way to cap off an incredible career. During her four years at Christopher Newport, Lichty was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Region selection. She was also a two-time VaSID All-State pick. Overall, she wrapped up her career with 17 goals and 14 assists while establishing a program-record with 79 appearances.

Hutson is the first Spartan in school history to earn a national berth on the At-Large squad. The At-Large designation draws male student-athletes from lacrosse, golf, fencing, gymnastics, ice hockey, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.

Hutson capped another wildly successful year as he earned first team All-Capital Athletic Conference honors for the third consecutive season in early May. Hutson tallied a team-high 52 goals while he also had 13 assists for 65 points. He recorded a team-high nine man-up goals while he also notched four game-winning goals. Hutson totaled 41 ground balls and forced seven opponent turnovers in his 20 games of action.

Hutson is the Spartans' all-time leading scorer as he has piled up 210 points on a school-record 161 goals and 49 assists. Hutson has recorded 21 man-advantage goals and 10 game-winning goals in his Spartan career.

The sharpshooting attackman led the CAC in goals scored for the second straight year while he finished sixth in the conference in points.

Hutson helped the Spartans record a school-record 16 wins as they earned an NCAA Tournament At-Large berth for the first time in school history. The Spartans won their first ever NCAA tournament game with their 8-3 win over Susquehanna in the opening round.

Hutson boasts a 3.87 GPA as a marketing major at YCP. He is a five-time member of the York College Dean's List while he is a three-time CAC All-Academic honoree as well as a three-time York College Athletic Honor Roll member.