Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football's Tim Bolte Earns Academic All-America Honors
12/8/2011 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 8, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell football senior linebacker Tim Bolte (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield), the 2011 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a Campbell Trophy semifinalist, was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Team on Thursday. Bolte, a first-team selection, is Bucknell's 121st Academic All-American, the fifth-highest total in Division I.
Bolte is the 23rd Academic All-American from the Bucknell football program, and the first first-teamer since David Berardinelli in 1992. Bolte joined former teammate Travis Nissley, a 2010 Academic All-American, to give the Bison an honoree in back-to-back years for the first time since Berardinelli was cited in 1991 and 1992.
Last month Bolte was named to the Academic All-District II First Team, making him eligible for the national ballot. In order to be eligible for Academic All-America honors, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore, hold a 3.30 or better cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or key reserve on his/her team.
Thursday's honor is the fourth major academic-related award this year for Bolte, who is also a two-time member of the Academic All-Patriot League Football Team. A three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member who has earned a 4.0 grade-point average each of the last three semesters, Bolte owns a 3.93 cumulative GPA while majoring in East Asian Studies (Chinese) and political science, and he is a six-time member of Bucknell's Dean's List.
Bolte has spent time as a tutor at Cristo Ray Jesuit High School in Baltimore, serves on the executive board of Phi Gamma Delta and is a member of Alpha Lamda Delta Honor Society and Phi Sigma Alpha Honor Society. In addition to a full academic schedule, Bolte is currently co-writing a future publication through the Bucknell Institute of Public Policy titled "Islam and Democracy: Testing the Micro-Level Foundations".
Bolte, who plans on attending law school, completed an internship at BDP International in Shanghai, China. While there, he held American culture and English proficiency classes after work for those in the company who wanted to improve their English and learn more about the United States.
A two-year starter at linebacker who recently earned the Bucknell Football Leadership Award and the Bobby Pangburn Memorial Award at the team's annual postseason awards banquet, Bolte ranked second on the Bison with a career-high 64 tackles this past season, boosting his career total to 142. He started the final 22 games of his career and finished his senior season with nine tackles for loss, two sacks, five passes defended, one interception, two forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries.
Bolte moved into a starting role for the first time as a junior and finished second on the team with a then-career high 57 tackles.
Bolte was the lone Patriot League representative on the Capital One Academic All-America team. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was named the Capital One Academic All-American of the Year.
Bucknell Football Academic All-Americans
1970: Gene Luccarelli, 2nd team
1972: Doug Nauman, 1st team; John Ondrasik, 1st team
1973: John Dailey, 1st team; Mark Nosal, 2nd team
1974: Steve Leskinen, 1st team; Mike Axe, 2nd team
1975: Larry Brunt, 1st team; Mark Pursley, 2nd team
1976: Larry Brunt, 1st team; Charlie Kuhns, 2nd team
1980: Dave Hibbard, 2nd team
1984: Rob Masonis, 1st team; Jim Rielly, 1st team; Mike Morrow, 2nd team
1986: Mike Morrow, 1st team
1991: David Berardinelli, 1st team
1992: David Berardinelli, 1st team
2000: David Evans, 2nd team
2004: Justin Gibson, 2nd team
2006: David Frisbey, 2nd team
2010: Travis Nissley, 2nd team
2011: Tim Bolte, 1st team
