Mark Gidjunis Raptors' Gidjunis earns Academic All-District honor

CAMDEN, N.J. (Oct. 31, 2009) – Mark Gidjunis (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) has been one of the outstanding student-athletes on campus since his first year at Rutgers University-Camden, and the senior midfielder has added another honor to his impressive resume.

Gidjunis has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 2 Men’s Soccer Second Team, part of the Academic All-America program that is recognized by members of CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America.

An Accounting major with a 3.93 GPA, Gidjunis has earned numerous honors throughout his four years with the Scarlet Raptors’ soccer program. He played in 81 career games, the fifth-highest total in program history. The Scarlet Raptors compiled a 50-25-14 mark during that span, including back-to-back ECAC Division III Metro championships in 2006 and 2007, followed by the program’s first appearance ever in the NCAA Div. III tournament in 2008. The Scarlet Raptors set a program record with 16 wins last year, when Gidjunis served his first of two consecutive seasons as a team captain.
Mark Gidjunis
During his junior season, Gidjunis also captured Rutgers-Camden’s Borda-Sheehan Memorial Award. That honor is given annually to recognize the Scarlet Raptors’ Most Dedicated Player.

Gidjunis compiled three goals and three assists for nine career points, sparking the Raptors’ first ECAC championship run with an amazing post-season performance during his freshman year. He notched his first collegiate goal in an ECAC quarterfinal win over City College of New York (Nov. 9, 2006). He added another goal two days later, making it a game-winning tally with 12:52 remaining in regulation to give the Raptors a 2-1 ECAC semifinal win over Richard Stockton College. That performance earned him Rutgers-Camden’s Co-Raptor of the Week honor on Nov. 13, 2006 and he added recognition as the New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week later the same day.

A Dean’s List student every semester at Rutgers-Camden, Gidjunis has earned a pair of selections on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Soccer Team, an award that is open to all four-year collegiate players in the Delaware Valley area, regardless of their division. The honor is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors with the minimum of a 3.3 GPA. Gidjunis earned his first Inquirer Academic Team honor as a sophomore. Last season he was named the Co-Performer of Year on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Soccer Team. He is on the ballot again this fall. The team is usually announced in late November or early December.

Gidjunis also earned NJAC Academic Honorable Mention during his sophomore and junior seasons. The conference’s academic all-star teams, which aren’t open to freshmen, are named at the end of each scholastic year, so Gidjunis has an excellent shot at earning his third NJAC academic honor next spring.

A former scholastic standout at Cinnaminson High School, Gidjunis ranked eighth in his graduating class of 197, posted a 97.03 GPA and earned a Bloustein Scholarship.