College Sports Information Directors of America

        A three-time All-American, Sinclair has been named as the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American® of the Year for the University Division. The winner of the 2004 Hermann Trophy as the top college player in the nation, she leads NCAA Division I in scoring with 37 goals and 10 assists. Named as the West Coast Conference Player of the Year three times, she has led Portland to a 20-0-1 record. With 108 career goals, she is the second-leading scorer in the history of NCAA Division I women’s soccer. Sinclair is a Life Science major with a 3.75 G.P.A.

        Also a three-time All-American and honored as the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Offensive Player of the Year an unprecedented four times, Wall has been named as the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American® of the Year for the College Division. A Psychology and Pre-Medicine major with a 3.82 G.P.A., she scored nine goals with 14 assists as a senior as she finished her career with 71 goals and 52 assists. A member of the Battling Bishops’ national championship team as a freshman, she was named as a first team All-American in 2003 and 2004. She made a remarkable comeback this season after an automobile accident in February that necessitated radical back surgery.

        Sinclair is one of 13 scholar-athletes to be named to the Academic All-America® University Division first team. Senior goalkeeper Erika Bonn (Brookfield, Conn.) of Notre Dame is the only repeat selection. An Art Studio major with a 3.68 G.P.A., Bonn has been a record-setting goalkeeper for the Fighting Irish, 21-2-0 on the season. As a junior, she led Notre Dame to the national championship.

        Notre Dame was the only school with more than one player named to the first team as senior Annie Schefter (Yakima, Wash.) earned first team honors at midfield. A Pre-Professional Studies and Psychology major with a 3.77 G.P.A., Schefter was a second team Academic All-America® selection last year. She has scored four goals and has nine assists for ND, which has reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

        Joining Sinclair as forwards on the Academic All-America® University Division first team are senior Melanie Kasparek (Trumbull, Conn.) of Rhode Island and junior Amy Cochran (Keene, N.H.) of Vermont. A Psychology major with a 3.97 G.P.A., Kasparek scored 13 goals and had five assists while leading URI to a second-place finish in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. The leading scorer in America East, Cochran had nine goals and seven assists for Vermont. She is a Physics major with a 3.97 G.P.A.

        A Biology major with a 4.04 G.P.A., senior Caitlin Gamble (Salt Lake City, Utah) of Oregon was named as a first team pick on the midfield. She was Oregon’s second-leading scorer with four goals and one assist. Junior Courtney Hulcer (St. Louis, Mo.) of Saint Louis was also named as a first team midfielder. The Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, Hulcer led SLU to a 16-5 record and the A-10 championship with 15 assists.

        Due to a tie in the voting, five defenders were selected to the first team. In addition to graduate students Lindsay Bach (Rochester, N.Y.) of Penn State and Jessica Ring (Rockford, Ill.) of Wisconsin, senior Courtney Baines (Indiatlantic, Fla.) of Central Florida and Eleni Benson (Willington, Conn.) of Yale were named to the first team. Junior Julie Jorgensen (Manchester, N.H.) of West Point rounds out the defense.

        A two-time All-Big Ten Conference pick for the Nittany Lions, Bach was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. She graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and is attending graduate school for Communication Disorders. She has led PSU to a 21-0-1 record. Ring, who earned a degree in Sociology, has a perfect 4.0 G.P.A.

        An Exceptional Education major with a 3.90 G.P.A., Baines was named as the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year for UCF. Benson, a Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry major with a 3.82 G.P.A., has captained Yale to a 15-3-1 record and its first Ivy League title since 1992. Jorgensen, a Mathematics major with a 4.11 G.P.A., captained Army to a 12-6-1 record and a runner-up finish in the Patriot League Tournament.

        Rounding out the first team is senior goalkeeper Ali Shingler (Grove City, Ohio) of Bowling Green, who shared first team honors with Bohn. An Applied Health Science and Biology major with a 4.0 G.P.A., Shingler was a three-year starter for the Falcons and led Bowling Green to back-to-back Mid-American Conference titles.

        Wall is one of only two repeat selections on the Academic All-America® College Division Women’s Soccer team. Senior defender Denise Fliesser (London, Ontario, Canada) of Tusculum College was also honored for the second time. A starter in every game of her career, she led the Pioneers to four straight South Atlantic Conference Tournament titles. A Physical Education major with a 4.00 G.P.A., she was first team All-SAC as a senior.

         Joining Wall as forwards on the College Division first team are seniors Rachel Moskowitz (Wooster, Ohio) of Grinnell and Melissa Stevenson (Littleton, Col.) of Lake Forest. A Political Science major with a 3.89 G.P.A., Moskowitz was named first team All-Midwest Conference three times. She led the Pioneers to back-to-back MWC titles and ended her career with 42 goals and 46 assists. A four-time pick as first team All-MWC, Stevenson is a Biology major with a 3.93 G.P.A. She is the Foresters’ all-time scoring leader with 54 goals and 34 assists.

        Seniors Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk, N.Y.) of Union College, Laura Smolinski (Mentor, Ohio) of Ohio Northern and Colleen Wirtz (Westerville, Ohio) of Denison were named to the Academic All-America® College Division midfield. A Mathematics and Physics major with a 3.82 G.P.A., Eisenhut is a three-sport standout who was the winner of the ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award in September. A first team All-Liberty League selection, she scored 13 goals and had 10 assists while leading Union to an 18-1-3 record. An Accounting major with a 3.97 G.P.A., Smolinski is a three-time selection as first team All-Ohio Athletic Conference. She scored 15 goals and had five assists as a senior and finished her career with 22 goals and 20 assists. A three-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference first team selection, Wirtz has led Denison to a 16-3-3 and a berth in the NCAA Division III round of 16. The Big Red’s top scorer with nine goals and two assists, she is a Biology major with a 3.78 G.P.A.

        Joining Fliesser on the Academic All-America® College Division defense are seniors Cristina Egnell (Brooklyn Center, Minn.) of Bemidji State, Katie Schick (Irvine, Cal.) of Westmont and Michelle Sovern (Mason, Ohio) of Indianapolis. A Physical Education and Health Education major with a 3.95 G.P.A., Egnell was a two-year captain who led BSU to a 12-5-6 record in 2005. She played in all 79 career games. Schick is a two-time All-Golden State Athletic Conference pick and a Liberal Studies major with a 3.99 G.P.A. A Biology and English major with a 3.98 G.P.A., Sovern was a four-year starter for Indianapolis and helped the team to a 9-9 record this year.

        Senior goalkeeper Kathryn Kramer (Appleton, Wis.) of Winona State rounds out the Academic All-America® College Division first team. A Nursing major with a 3.93 G.P.A., Kramer led the Warriors to a 20-1-2 record and the 2005 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title. Named as the Most Valuable Player at the NSIC Tournament, she allowed 0.50 goals per game as a senior with nine shutouts. She was also named second team All-NSIC.

        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 grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings 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 Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

        ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication.  Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.85 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.

        For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or e-mail rlipe@bentley.edu.