Lincoln's Francis selected to Philadelphia Inquirer Men’s Soccer Academic All-Area team

Francis selected to Philadelphia Inquirer Men's Soccer Academic All-Area team

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA. (January 5, 2009) - Lincoln University of Pennsylvania senior men's soccer player Theon Francis (Trinidad & Tobago/Queens Royal College) was selected to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Soccer team. The team was voted on by the sports information offices of the 28 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

A biology major with a 3.49 GPA, Francis tied for the team lead in goals with seven and was second in points with 15. His effort helped Lincoln finish the season with a 5-11-1 record under first year coach Z. Joseph Jallah. During the season, Francis scored a pair of game-winning goals against Gallaudet and Columbia Union. During Lincoln's four game winning streak to finish the month of September, Francis scored a goal in each match.

The ballerina in cleats ended his career with 15 goals, six assists and 36 points. As a freshman, Francis played a major role in helping the Lions qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1966. Lincoln finished 9-5 and was the No. 1 seed in the Association of Division III Independents tournament. Six of his 15 career goals were game-winners.

An honors student, Francis is the king of the Biology club, the senator for the Caribbean Students Association and Tri Beta. After earning his degree on May 5, Francis plans to attend medical school. He would like to become a pediatrician.

Francis is the second men's soccer player and fifth Lincoln student-athlete to be named to the prestigious Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team. Francis joins Oluwafemi Badejo (men's soccer, 2005), Megan Veale (volleyball, 2005), Ashley Parker and Ashley Douglas (women's track and field, 2007). Parker was named the Performer of the Year in 2007. The large spread with all of the 2008 fall sport teams appeared in the Sunday December 28, 2008 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer, one of the largest newspapers in the United States.

Rutgers-Camden junior Mark Gidjunis and Temple junior J.T. Noone have been named the 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Soccer Performers of the Year. Gidjunis and Noone are two of 12 student-athletes selected to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Soccer Team.

Francis, Gidjunis and Noone are joined on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men's Soccer team by Andrew Bernhard of La Salle, Theon, Bryan Johnson and Justin McCall of Cabrini, Evan Nesterak and Jason Thorpe of Swarthmore, A.J.O'Malley of Rutgers-Camden, Zach Sell of Neumann and Todd Wampler of Drexel.

Founded in 1854, Lincoln University is the first historically black institution of higher education and its graduates include such luminaries as Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice of the United States Supreme Court, and acclaimed poet and author Langston Hughes.  Lincoln University is nationally regarded for producing African Americans with undergraduate degrees in the physical sciences.

2008 PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ACADEMIC ALL-AREA MEN’S SOCCER TEAM

Performers of the Year: Mark Gidjunis (Rutgers-Camden), J.T. Noone (Temple)