College Sports Information Directors of America

2016-17 CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year

College Division AAA of the Year: PDF | doc
NCAA Division III AAA of the Year: Tuesday, July 18
NCAA Division II AAA of the Year: Wednesday, July 19
NCAA Division I AAA of the Year: Thursday, July 20

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• Health Before Harrier: Leah Esposito thought her senior season had come to an end after a devastating illness, but she overcame it to capture her third Frontier Championship (Carroll Athletics)

Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Standout Leah Esposito of Carroll Named as CoSIDA College Division Academic All-America® of the Year For Second Time

AUSTIN, Texas – Senior women’s track & field/cross country runner Leah Esposito of Carroll College has been named as the 2016-17 College Division Academic All-America® of the Year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
The College Division Academic All-America® teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions. This the fifth year that CoSIDA has named College Division Academic All-America® teams.
 
Esposito is the sixth student-athlete to earn the College Division Academic All-America® of the Year and is the first one to earn the award for the second consecutive year. Park University women’s volleyball player Wanessa Siqueira captured the award in 2014-15. Men’s soccer player Stephen Lunney (Martin Methodist College) collected the honor in 2013-14. Women’s soccer player Mia Persson (Lindsey Wilson College) earned the award in 2012-13 while Jamie Achten of the Lee University women’s soccer team was selected in 2011-12.
 
“It feels great,” said Esposito. “I am kind of shocked that I received the award a second time. There are a lot of people to thank honestly. It means a lot to me, not only does it validate all of the hard work that I have put in here, but it is a great recognition for the great coaches and the more than fantastic professors here.
 
“I’ve gained so much from my experience at Carroll, not just academics and athletics but I’ve grown so much as a person,” added Esposito. “It means a lot to give the college the recognition it deserves. The most important thing I have learned is perseverance. I haven’t had it as hard as some of my teammates as far as extended injuries. I’ve had to persevere through tough times, tough things, wanting to quit. I’ve gone through it all and found a way to stay the course, and that is something I am going to be able to lean on for the rest of my life.”
 
The 2016 NAIA indoor national champion in the mile, Esposito is a native of Helena, Montana, with a 3.97 G.P.A. in biology. The 2015 NAIA indoor national champion in the 1,000-meter run has earned All-America honors 19 times in her career and capped it off with her final one during the outdoor season in leading the Carroll 4x800 relay team to fourth at outdoor nationals. Esposito finished in second place in the steeplechase at the 2017 outdoor championship, and came in third place in the mile at the 2017 indoor championship.
 
“I think everyone wants to leave a mark somewhere,” said Esposito. “Graduating from Carroll has been very bittersweet, I am going to miss it tremendously, but I am excited that I got to leave a legacy here. I will always have some place to come back to, and that is comforting and a really good feeling. It is great to see my hard work turn into something and to be recognized for it. At Carroll, I’ve experienced some of the greatest and most difficult times of my life. Those experiences are something I won’t get a chance to go through ever again. I loved my time here and would do it again in an instant.”

“When Leah came to Carroll, this program was very new, we barely had enough girls to make up a cross country squad, but behind her, we have become one of the top programs in the NAIA,” said Carroll track and field head coach Harry Clark. “She is a program builder, both on the track and in the classroom. Her example and leadership have helped us establish the mold for what we want the student-athletes in our program to be like.”
 
Esposito was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s West Region Athlete of the Year for the 2015 indoor season. Esposito overcame a pulmonary embolism to come back and claim her third consecutive Frontier Conference cross country individual title. She was 11th at the NAIA Cross Country Championship in 2016 for her fourth consecutive All-America performance. Esposito was also a member of the second place distance medley relay team at the 2016 indoor championship. She was honored as the NAIA's 2015 A.O. Duer Award winner. The Duer Award is the highest academic honor for all NAIA sports.
 
“Leah is a Helena product, she grew up here, her father was a professor here at Carroll, and she works hard to shine a light on her hometown and her school,” said Carroll Director of Athletics Charlie Gross. “I’ve been here a little over a year, and what drew me to Carroll were student-athletes like Leah, and she will continue to be an example to all of our coaches as the kind of student-athletes we like to recruit.”
 
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award winner will be announced Tuesday (July 18) followed by the Division II winner Wednesday (July 19) and the Division I honoree Thursday (July 20).
 

2016-17 Sport-by-Sport College Division Academic All-America® of the Year Award Winners

 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College
Academic All-America® Co-Director for Publicity
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu
(706) 379-5106