Western Wayne Today

DETROIT -- Three Wayne State University men's student-athletes were recognized with College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors as announced by the organization earlier this afternoon. WSU sports in the "At-Large" category include fencing and golf.

Nomination criteria include:

- Student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.

- An undergraduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).

Receiving Academic All-District accolades were junior sabreist Eyad Marouf (Alexandria, Egypt / European International School of Alexandria), sophomore foilist Mitchell Gatrell (Livonia, Mich. / Churchill) from the fencing squad (Division 1), and senior Ian Smith (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth) from the men's golf team (Division 2).

Marouf earned First Team All-American (top four) accolades at the NCAA Championships. He advanced to the national semifinals in the men's sabre and won 17 total bouts to place tied-for-third in the final standings. Marouf compiled an overall record of 17-6 during the round-robin portion at the NCAA Championships with a +31 touch differential (97-66). He became WSU's first First Team All-American since Ahmed Elsayed was a semifinalist in the men's epee during the 2019 NCAA Championships. Marouf was a recipient of a 2024 GLIAC Commissioner's Award for academic and athletic excellence. On the fencing strip, he was selected All-Midwest Region Second Team after being named First Team All-CCFC in the sabre for a second straight campaign, after being on the Second Team in his freshman season. Marouf had a 3.78 cumulative grade-point average while majoring in Biological Sciences.

Gatrell competed in seven events and managed a 39-34 record, all in foil. He had a strong 12-5 record at the two-day Remenyik Open (10/14-15), which was hosted by Northwestern. Gatrell was perfect with a 3-0 record at the Detroit Mercy Titan Invitational (1/14), then had eight bout wins to four defeats at the Notre Dame DeCicco Duals (1/27). Academically, the Finance major has a 3.66 cumulative grade-point average.

Smith garnered Honorable Mention All-GLIAC distinction and was one of just three Warriors (Josh DiCarlo and Max Leppelmeier were the other two) to play in 13 of the team's 14 tournaments. Smith turned in a breakout campaign setting career bests for tournaments, rounds played (31.5), scoring average (73.5), top-10 finishes (5), top-25 placings (6), and rounds below par (7). He tied-for-second twice - The Battle at Brunswick with a one-under 107 (72-35) and the Motor City Shakedown with an even-par 72. The three-time GLIAC All-Academic Excellence team selection maintains a 3.63 cumulative grade-point average while majoring in Marketing.

Marouf will advance to the Division I national ballot with an announcement from CSC on Men's At-Large Academic All-Americans coming on July 17th.