SEATTLE – For a couple nights each week, David Downs and Katie Benson have been lighting it up on the basketball court.
 
But it's every day of the week that the two Seattle Pacific sophomores are doing the same thing in the classroom. Here's proof: Downs and Benson both have been named to their respective CoSIDA Academic All-District team for the first time.
 
Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) sports a 3.80 grade-point average as a business administration major.
 
Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) carries a 3.69 GPA as a communications major.
 
CoSIDA teams are voted upon by college sports information directors. Players must have at least a 3.3 grade-point average and be a starter or significant reserve. This year, for the first time, Division II has its own team. Previously, D-2 and D-3 were combined on one team. Only a first team was selected. The District 8 team includes the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West Conference.
 
Downs is averaging 15 points per game heading into this week's home contests against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington, leading Seattle Pacific and ranking No. 8 in the scoring race. Downs also hands out an average of 3.8 assists per game, the sixth-best mark in the conference, and his free throw accuracy of 85.9 percent ranks No. 3.
 
Downs also is among the GNAC's best marksmen from 3-point range, hitting at a 46.3 percent success rate that is tied for No. 5. He has drained 56 shots from downtown this season.
 
His assists, free throw shooting and 3-point shooting also are atop the Falcons' stat lists.
 
Benson is Seattle Pacific's leading scorer at 15 points per game, a mark that is No. 8 on the GNAC list as the Falcons prepare for this week's road trip to Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. She also is the second-leading rebounder for the team at 6.5 per game, a mark that ranks No. 12 in the conference.
 
At the free throw line, Benson is one of the steadiest performers on a team that ranks among the nation's top five. She hits at a .783 clip, with nearly twice as many makes (83) and more than twice as many attempts (106) than any of her teammates.
 
Benson is one of the best shot blockers in the conference, with 21, an average of 1.0 per game that ranks No. 5.
 
 
 
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Men
Sr. Rory Blanche, W. Washington, 3.80, Manufacturing Engineering Tech
Jr. Dominique Cooks, Chaminade, 3.66, International Trade
So. David Downs, Seattle Pacific, 3.80, Business Administration
Sr. Jay Flores, Chico State, 3.44, Business
Sr. Steven Pratt, Sonoma State, 3.37, Business Administraiton
 
Women
So. Katie Benson, Seattle Pacific, 3.69, Communications
Gr. Nicole Bozek, Alaska Fairbanks, 3.80, Accounting / Business
Sr. Kelly Costello, Chaminade, 4.00, International Trade/Bus. Admin.
Sr. Hanna Johansson, Alaska Anchorage, 3.66, Journalism/Public Communications
So. Bobbi Knudsen, Montana State Billings, 3.83, Secondary Education
Jr. Emily Osga, UC San Diego, 3.73, Human Biology