June 10, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Temple redshirt junior Paul Amess has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At-Large Second Team, officials from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced today. The southpaw is the first Temple golfer to receive Academic All-America honors from the organization.

The Stevenage, England native led the Temple golf team with a 73.9 stroke average this season and was the Owls top finisher (14th) at the Atlantic 10 Championship (74-71-72=217, +1). A two-time A-10 Golfer of the Week, Amess was one stroke away from winning his first collegiate tournament at the Princeton Invitational earlier this year with a 71-73-68=212 (-1).

Amess shot the sixth-lowest individual score in program history with a 67 earlier at the SIUE Cougar Classic and also captured Bermuda Match Play Championship earlier this spring, exempting him to the final round of British Open qualifying. He owns a career average of 74.7 in 50 rounds at Temple.

In the classroom, the finance major carries a 3.90 grade point average. He was named Temple's Male Student-Athlete of the Year at the annual Breakfast of Champions in April. Amess was also one of five golfers named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team and he earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District At-Large First Team honors last month.

He graduated as a President Scholar with summa cum laude honors from the Fox School of Business during the University's commencement exercises in May.

Temple has now boasted Academic All-Americans in consecutive seasons as former softball player Adrienne Repsher received a first team citation in 2007. Amess is the first male athlete at TU to receive Academic All-America honors since Steven Wacker was a second team selection in men's soccer.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 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. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.