UNLV soccer players Andrew Hooker and Marni Polakow were both named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-District VIII Soccer Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday.
Hooker, a senior defender from Victoria, British Columbia, is a two-time All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation First Team selection. He finished his career with the Rebel men's soccer program having played in every game since 1998 for a total of 72 consecutive games played. Last season, Hooker was named a Verizon/CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American and selected to the UNLV Athletics Academic Top 30 for a third-straight year.
A member of the UNLV Honors College, Hooker is a mechanical engineering major with an impressive 3.92 grade-point average. He helped the Rebels to a 6-1 upset of defending national champion Connecticut this past season. Over four years, Hooker recorded four goals and one assist for nine points and led the Rebels as team captain for three seasons.
One of the best defensive players in school history, Polakow finished out her Rebel women's soccer career having played in every game since the inaugural 1998 season with 79 consecutive games played. The Buffalo Grove, Illinois, native is a two-time Mountain West Conference Academic All-Conference Team selection and three-time UNLV Academic Top 30 honoree.
This past season, she was named to the 2001 MWC Women's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team guiding the Rebels as team captain to a second-place finish in the postseason conference tournament. Polakow is a member of the UNLV Honors College and finished out her playing career with three goals and three assists for nine points. She is a kinesiology major at UNLV holding a 3.72 grade-point average.
The all-district selections qualifies both student-athletes for a shot at Academic All-American recognition on the national level. CoSIDA selects a first, second, third and honorable mention team each year and Hooker or Polakow could become the school's seventh all-time First Team All-America selection.
