BOSTON – Matyas Csiki-Fejer captain of the Suffolk men's cross country and indoor track and field teams has been acknowledged for his academic and athletic accomplishments for the second straight season with College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors, the national organization announced Thursday afternoon.
Csiki-Fejer is one of 10 NCAA Division III competitors in District 1, which is comprised of Maine and Massachusetts, honored for combined academic and athletic excellence. He is the lone representative from the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) to be voted onto the prestigious list. For a complete rundown of 2021 CoSIDA Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-District honorees, click here.
Last year Csiki-Fejer made the Rams' record book as both the youngest student-athlete to receive the coveted award and the first member of Suffolk's men's cross country and track and field programs to do so. This year, with his second straight honor, he joins an elite list of student-athletes in the University's annals to take home a pair of district academic accolades. He is just the fifth member of Ram Nation to do so, first since Emily Manfra '20, did with back-to-back nods in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Suffolk has a haul of CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in 2020-21 with Csiki-Fejer's nod marking the fifth this year. He joins women's basketball's Jenni-Rose DiCecco, men's soccer's Tucker Mee, volleyball's Dakhensey Marcellus and baseball's Christian Seariac to mark the most Rams to receive the recognition over the course of a calendar year in the University's history. Overall, Suffolk has produced 23 all-district honorees. For a complete history of Suffolk Athletics' CoSIDA Academic awards click here.
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot where CoSIDA members vote for Academic All-America teams within their division. Awarded by CoSIDA to the most accomplished student-athletes for academic and athletic achievements each year since 1952, this is the longest-running and most prestigious academic and athlete award for student-athletes to receive.
The Manchester, Missouri native had his junior year athletic activity limited to just the outdoor track & field season after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the cross country and indoor campaigns. The long-distance runner made the most of the meets he was able to compete in through. One of his crowning achievements was at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the second oldest track & field meet in U.S. history, where he topped the 10,000 field, which featured Division I and II student-athletes to collect NEICAAA All-New England honors. In addition to that all-region nod, he garnered a pair from the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-New England selections, which is awarded to individuals who put together one of the top five best performances in the region. His first-place performance in the 10,000 behind a time of 30:47.31 at the NEICAAA May 14 ranked second in New England, while his 14:38.91 performance in the 5000 at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet six days later sat fifth-best in the region. The pair of accolades mark the first time a Suffolk student-athlete earned multiple all-region awards from the national organization in the same season in program history.
Academically, Csiki-Fejer's resume is even more impressive. Over six semesters he has kept his grade point average perfect, 4.00, as a double-major. In addition to his CoSIDA recognitions, which include a fourth-team CoSIDA Academic All-America distinction a year ago, he three USTFCCCA All-Academic awards and a handful of all-conference academic honors.