May 28, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State senior men's tennis player Luka Marinkovic was named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District V Men's At-Large Second-Team Wednesday.
Marinkovic completed his final season as a Redbird, garnering Missouri Valley Conference All-Selection Team honors, Valley Scholar-Athlete First-Team accolades and was named the league's player of the week April 1. Marinkovic led ISU with 18 singles wins on the season, while competing at the No. 1 spot.
"Luka served as our team captain and was a senior leader for us this past season," said head coach Cris James. "He has always done consistently well in the classroom. We try to encourage a good balance between academics and athletics. Luka was a leader in regards to that team philosophy."
Marinkovic is on target to graduate in May 2009, with a 3.82 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) in finance. He was also a four-time member of the AFNI Athletics Honor Roll.
The Uzica, Serbia, native finished his Redbird tennis career ranked third all-time in school history with 80 career doubles victories, while his 72 career singles wins rank eighth all-time at ISU. Marinkovic and doubles partner, Daniel Tobar, acquired a No. 27 national doubles ranking earlier in 2008, and tied for the team high with 15 doubles wins.
There are eight districts recognized by the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District program. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have a 3.2 cumulative GPA, be at least a sophomore in academic standing and be a starter or a key contributor to his team.
