2003 Academic All-America Women's Soccer

11/26/2003 9:29:27 AM

2003 Academic All-America Women's Soccer

CoSIDA released today the 2003 Academic All-America Women’s Soccer Team. The team includes graduate student Vanessa Pruzinksy (Trumbull, Conn.) of the University of Notre Dame, who was named to the Academic All-America Women’s Soccer First Team for the third time.

A graduate student who has a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a Chemical Engineering major, Pruzinsky was also named first team Academic All-American as a defender in 2000 and 2001. However, she missed the 2002 season with an ankle injury that required surgery. After becoming only the third Notre Dame student ever to graduate with a Chemical Engineering degree and a 4.0 G.P.A., she opted to pursue her Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and use up her final season of eligibility.

In the College Division, Jenny Bruce (Menasha, WI) of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point earned Academic All-America of the Year honors. A three-time Academic All-America Team member selection that holds a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record with 46 career assists, Bruce is the first student-athlete in WIAC history to be named Academic All-America of the Year.

Forty-three of the 66 team members have a 3.9 G.P.A. or better including Penn’s all-time leading scorer, Katy Cross (Claremont, CA) and four-year starter Sarah Bearse of the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Bearse holds a 4.0 G.P.A. in Electromechanical Engineering and is a two-time Academic All-America honoree. Goalkeeper Erika Bohn of the University of Notre Dame is the only sophomore named to the team.

“The Academic All-America Teams is and has been CoSIDA’s flagship program for over 50 years. We take pride in recognizing student-athletes who strive to find balance between their academic and athletic goals everyday,” said Dick Lipe, Academic All-America Teams Chairperson.

The complete list of student-athletes named to the Academic All-America Women’s Soccer Team is attached (See Attachment A).

The Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or email academicallamerica@millsport.com.

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2003 – 04 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM

University Division

First Team

Name School Yr. Position Hometown GPA/Major

Katy Cross Pennsylvania Jr. F Claremont, CA 3.95/Psychology

Kim Harvey SMU Sr. F Garland, TX 3.74/Mgmt Info Science

Shannon Kuhl Dayton Sr. F Hamilton, OH 3.95/Education

Joanna Lohman Penn State Sr. F Silver Spring, MD 3.97/Management

Lindley Beckman Mississippi Jr. MF Anchorage, KY 4.00/Political Science

Inge Heiremans Jacksonville Sr. MF Tremelo, Belgium 3.89/Intl Business/Mktg

Leah Robinson Va. Commonwealth Sr. MF Sackville, Nova Scotia 3.89/Biology

Prue Cormie Va. Commonwealth Sr. D Gold Coast, Australia 3.82/Interdisciplinary Studies

Jocelyn Dumaresq Seton Hall Sr. D Harrisburg, PA 3.99/Sec. Education/English

Amy LePeilbet Arizona State Sr. D Crystal Lake, IL 3.81/Education

Vanessa Pruzinksy* Notre Dame Gr. D Trumbull, CT 4.00/Chemical Engineering

Sarah Lombardo UCLA Jr. GK Long Beach, CA 3.98/Mole., Cellular Dev. Biology

Second Team