2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-America® At-Large Men's & Women's Teams release dates:
College Division Teams: LINK
NCAA Division III Teams: LINK
NCAA Division II Teams: LINK
NCAA Division I Teams: below
• Academic All-America® website
• Academic All-America® At-Large Teams - Division II
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – A pair of student-athletes from the University of Alabama — junior swimmer Anton McKee and graduate student gymnast Lauren Beers — headline the 2016 Academic All-America® Division I Men’s and Women’s At-Large Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
McKee and Beers have been selected as the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans® of the Year for the Division I Men’s and Women’s At-Large programs, respectively. The at-large teams for the Academic All-America® program include the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming & diving, tennis and water polo for both men and women, as well as beach volleyball, bowling, crew and field hockey for women, and volleyball and wrestling for men.
A finance major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., McKee is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® selection, moving up to the first team this year after previously earning third-team honors in 2015. A native of Hafnarfjörour, Iceland, McKee is a three-year All-American in the breaststroke events and won the 2014 Southeastern Conference 200-meter breaststroke title. This year, he helped Alabama to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the best finish by the Crimson Tide at the national meet since 1983.
Beers is a rare three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® selection, appearing on the first team for the second year in a row after garnering second-team accolades in 2014. The Warren Center, Pennsylvania, resident also is the only three-time recipient of the NCAA Elite 90 honor for gymnastics in the award’s history. She earned her undergraduate degree in exercise science, and currently maintains a 4.0 G.P.A. in her graduate sports management program at Alabama.
On the mat, Beers capped her athletic career as an eight-time All-American and five-time NCAA regional champion. This year, she helped lead the Crimson Tide to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the program’s 23rd top-three finish at the national meet.
Exactly two-thirds (30) of the 45 student-athletes on the 2016 Academic All-America® Division I Men’s At-Large Team earned at least a 3.90 G.P.A., with 13 compiling a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. The 15 members of the first-team had an average G.P.A. of 3.86.
Along with being this year’s Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Team Member of the Year, McKee is among nine male student-athletes who now have earned multiple Academic All-America® citations. The other men who repeated as Academic All-America® student-athletes in 2016 are led by a rare three-time Academic All-America® honoree in University of Texas senior swimmer Cory Bowersox. Besides McKee, seven other student-athletes are two-time Academic All-America® choices, including six on the first team — Mississippi State University junior tennis player Rishab Agarwal, Miami University senior swimmer Evan Bader, Clemson University graduate student golfer Stephen Behr, University of California junior swimmer Ryan Murphy, Alabama senior swimmer Connor Oslin and University of Georgia senior swimmer Ty Stewart.
Bowersox appeared on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® First Team for the second year in a row after garnering third-team accolades in 2014. Meanwhile, Murphy and Stewart moved up to Academic All-America® Second Team this year after collecting second-team honors in 2015. Agarwal, Bader, Behr and Oslin joined McKee in receiving first-team recognition this year after earning spots on the Academic All-America® Third Team a season ago.
University of Mississippi senior golfer Forrest Gamble was the other returnee to the Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Team, collecting second-team honors for the second consecutive season.
On the women’s side, nearly 75 percent (34) of the 46 members of the 2016 Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large Team posted at least a 3.90 G.P.A., including a staggering 26 student-athletes with spotless 4.0 G.P.A. The 15 members of the first-team registered an average G.P.A. of 3.95, with more than half (eight) logging a 4.0 G.P.A.
There are five student-athletes on this year’s CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large Team that are noteworthy three-time Academic All-America® choices, led by Beers. The others are California senior swimmer Rachel Acker, University of North Dakota senior ice hockey player Shelby Amsley-Benzie, Duke University senior field hockey player Lauren Blazing and U.S. Naval Academy senior swimmer Ellen Bradford. Blazing is a three-time first-team selection, while Beers was a second-team pick in 2014 before moving up to the Academic All-America® First Team last year. Amsley-Benzie and Bradford were third-team honorees in 2014 and joined Beers and Blazing on the first team a season ago, while Acker was on the third team in 2014 and the second team in 2015 before collecting first-team accolades this year.
In addition, four other female student-athletes are two-time selections to the Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large Team. This year’s repeat choices include three first-team picks — University of Tennessee senior swimmer Faith Johnson, University of Minnesota senior gymnast Lindsay Mable and University of Louisville senior swimmer Kelsi Worrell — along with second-team ice hockey player Hannah Brandt, a senior at Minnesota.
Worrell moved up to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® First Team this year, while Johnson and Mable made the biggest leap, rising from the Academic All-America® Third Team in 2015 to appearing on this season’s first team.
CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Men’s At-Large Team
Led by McKee, the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Men’s At-Large First Team includes three student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. or better. The others are Agarwal and Gardner-Webb University senior swimmer Nathan Lile.
The rest of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® First Team is highlighted by multi-time selections Bowersox, Bader, Behr, Murphy, Oslin and Stewart. The top squad also features Ohio State University junior volleyball player Christy Blough, University of Iowa senior wrestler Nathan Burak, Stanford University senior volleyball player Conrad Kaminski, Minnesota junior wrestler Michael Kroells, Penn State University senior wrestler Nico Megaludis and Stanford senior gymnast Dennis Zaremski.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team is led by two-time selection Gamble, plus seven student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. — High Point University senior lacrosse player Tyler Cook, Elon University senior golfer Jonathan Dilanni, Niagara University senior swimmer Eric Ebert, University of New Hampshire senior skier Raleigh Goessling, Auburn University senior tennis player Marko Krickovic, Alabama junior swimmer Pavel Romanov and University of Michigan sophomore swimmer PJ Ransford.
Rounding out the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team are University of Utah junior skier Endre Bjertness, McNeese State University senior golfer Martin Eriksson, Quinnipiac University graduate student ice hockey player Soren Jonzzon, Robert Morris University senior ice hockey player Zac Lynch, Southern California sophomore water polo player Mihajlo Milicevic, CSU Bakersfield senior wrestler Ian Nickell, Ohio State senior gymnast Emeric Quade and Penn State sophomore wrestler Zain Retherford.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Third Team features three more student-athletes with 4.0 G.P.A. — South Dakota State University junior swimmer Weston Christensen, Eastern Illinois University senior tennis player Robert Skolik and Oral Roberts University senior golfer Trevor Torgerson.
The rest of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Third Team consists of three U.S. Naval Academy student-athletes — junior swimmer Ryan Bailey, senior gymnast Connor Westrick and senior wrestler Michael Woulfe — as well as Duke senior lacrosse player Deemer Class, U.S. Air Force Academy junior tennis player Lucas Fumagalli, Georgia State University senior golfer JJ Grey, Florida State University junior diver Dylan Grisell, University of Denver senior ice hockey player Gabe Levin, Brown University junior lacrosse player Dylan Molloy, Minnesota junior wrestler Brett Pfarr and Murray State University sophomore rifle athlete Ivan Roe.
CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large Team
As noted, eight of the 15 student-athletes on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large First Team are returnees, with three of those repeat selections among eight first-team picks who also recorded 4.0 G.P.A. — Amsley-Benzie, Beers and Bradford, plus University of New Mexico senior skier Emilie Cedervärn, University of Kentucky junior swimmer Danielle Galyer, Texas A&M University junior swimmer Sarah Gibson, U.S. Naval Academy senior rower Rebecca Greenberg and Grand Canyon University graduate student beach volleyball player Mackenzie Phelps.
Along with the aforementioned repeat honorees and/or 4.0 designees, the other Academic All-America® first-team members this year are University of North Carolina junior tennis player Hayley Carter and Utah senior gymnast Breanna Hughes.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team is led by two-time selection Brandt, plus nine other student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. — Liberty University senior swimmer Natalie Beale, University of Oklahoma senior rower Marissa Beene, Alabama sophomore gymnast Mackenzie Brannan, U.S. Naval Academy senior rower Kathleen Heinbach, Drake University senior tennis player Maddie Johnson, James Madison University senior lacrosse player Brooks Lawler, Hofstra University junior field hockey player Stella Schoen, University of Hawai’I graduate student beach volleyball player Katie Spieler and Southeastern Louisiana University senior tennis player Renee Villarreal.
Completing the Academic All-America® Second Team are California senior swimmer Rachel Bootsma, Utah senior gymnast Kailah Delaney, University of Albany junior field hockey player Paula Heuser, Harvard University junior fencer Adrienne Jarocki and Minnesota junior ice hockey player Lee Stecklein.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Third Team includes nine additional student-athletes with 4.0 G.P.A. — Bowling Green State University junior gymnast Lauren Feely, West Virginia University sophomore rifle athlete Elizabeth Gratz, Northwestern State (Louisiana) University senior tennis player Natalya Krutova, Sam Houston State University junior bowler Janine Kuwahara, University of Florida sophomore gymnast Alex McMurtry, University of Maryland junior lacrosse player Zoe Stukenberg, Kentucky junior tennis player Aldila Sutjiadi, Western Michigan University senior gymnast Kayla Weber and University of Cincinnati senior tennis player Hannah Wille.
The remainder of the Academic All-America® Third Team is made up of two Michigan student-athletes in junior gymnast Nicole Artz and senior water polo player Ali Thomason, plus University of Texas senior tennis player Breaunna Addison, University of South Carolina senior diver Lauren Lamendola, College of William & Mary senior golfer Alessandra Liu, Brown senior rower Muriel Solberg and Boise State University senior swimmer Samantha Wicks.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Schwartz, North Dakota State University (jeff.schwartz@ndsu.edu) (701) 231-8332
Academic All-America® Committee - Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications
Chris Masters, University of Notre Dame (masters.5@nd.edu) (574) 631-8032
Academic All-America® Committee - Coordinator of Publicity