Olivet College’s Harden earns Academic All-District honors
Olivet College senior Michael Harden (St. Johns) has been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District VI at-large first-team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America. With his selection, he advances to the Division III Academic All-America® ballot.
OLIVET, Mich. – Olivet College senior Michael Harden (St. Johns) has been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District VI at-large first-team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America. With his selection, he advances to the Division III Academic All-America® ballot. In 2011, Harden earned third-team Academic All-America® honors after being a first-team All-District selection.
Harden, who carries a 3.95 grade point average, is a double major in biology and environmental science. A four-year letterwinner on the Comet swimming team, he placed fourth in the 50 and 100 freestyle and eighth in the 100 backstroke at the 2012 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships. Harden also swam a leg of three first-place relays. In addition, he competed in all five relays at the 2012 NCAA Division III National Championships. The highest finishing relay was the 400 freestyle, which earned Honorable Mention All-American honors with a 15th-place finish.
Harden holds the second-best time in school history in the 50 freestyle (:20.84), third-best time in the 100 freestyle (:46.59) and fourth-best time in the 100 butterfly (:52.10). He also swam a leg of four school record relays, 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays, and 200 medley.
Outside the pool, Harden is the president of Comet Christian Fellowship and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and member of Sigma Zeta honor society, Science Club, American Chemical Society, Hosford Society of Scholars and Omicron Delta Kappa national honor society. He has also participated in numerous community service trips in the city of Olivet, state of Michigan and all across the United States, including Sausalito, Calif., Perryville, Ark., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Gary, Ind.
This summer, Harden will be working in Gainesville, Fla., at the University of Florida and under Head U.S. Olympic Men's Swimming Coach Gregg Troy. In the fall, he will start taking classes for his master's degree at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment in the Behavior, Education and Communication program.
The Academic All-America® program recognizes student-athletes who have succeeded in athletic competition and in the classroom. The members of the All-District VI teams are selected by sports information directors in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. To be eligible, the student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30.