Complete 2007 ESPN the Magazine Women's Soccer Academic All-America® TeamsWALTHAM, Mass. — Senior defender Rachel Buehler of Stanford University and senior forward Sarah Richardson of Wheaton (Ill.) College head the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Women’s Soccer Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Buehler and Richardson have been named as the Academic All-America of the Year in the University and College Divisions respectively.
A native of Del Mar, Calif., Buehler is a four-year starter on defense for Stanford. A repeat selection as a first team Academic All-America, she has led the Cardinal to a 14-2-4 record and a number five national ranking. A member of the Senior National team, she has started 71 of 78 games in her college career. As a senior, she has sparked a Cardinal defense that has a 0.71 goals against average. In her career, she has scored three goals with three assists and been named first team All-Pacific 10 twice.
A Human Biology major with a perfect 4.00 grade point average, Buehler was one of 11 student-athletes to be named first team Academic All-America. She is one three repeat selections on the first team and one of ten seniors.
Senior midfielder Lindsey Ozimek of Charlotte and senior defender Ashley Jones of Notre Dame were also named first team Academic All-America in 2006.
Joining Buehler, Ozimek and Jones on the first team are senior goalkeeper Joanna Haig of Louisville, senior midfielder Shauna Stapleton of Purdue, junior defender Kate Murphy of Memphis, senior defender Kyleyn Felts of Arizona State, senior defender Sue Weber of Hofstra, senior forward Brittany Bisnott of Niagara, senior forward Kari Weniger of U.S. Naval Academy, and senior forward Ashley Banks of West Virginia.
The average grade point average for the 11 first team selections is an impressive 3.93.
A product of Marshall, Michigan, Richardson has led top-ranked Wheaton College to a perfect 23-0 record this season. One of the leading scorers in NCAA Division III, she has scored 18 goals with 19 assists this year. As a junior, she was named as the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Championship when she led Wheaton the national championship. Led by Richardson, Wheaton has won 41 consecutive matches.
Richardson is a Business and Economics major with a 3.55 G.P.A.
In addition to Richardson, the first team featured a graduate student, nine seniors and two juniors. Joining her on the first team were goalkeeper Rachel Zollner of Metropolitan State College of Denver, midfielder Jennifer Gordon of Rose-Hulman, graduate student Katie Feehan of New Jersey City University, Lindsay Bove of the College of Saint Rose, junior defender Lisa Fahey of Washburn, senior defender Lauren Askey of Lynchburg, junior defender Garbrecht Erika of Oklahoma City, senior defender Sara Roeder of Stevens Institute of Technology, senior forward Kristin Brown of Oklahoma Christian, senior forward Kendyl Washburn of Harding and senior forward Katie Weaver of Salisbury.
With four members of the first-team squad boasting 4.00 cumulative grade point averages, the overall G.P.A. of the team was a 3.91.
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 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized biweekly with a circulation of 1.9 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.