College Sports Information Directors of America

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

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Women's Golf Standout Marie Coors of Saint Leo Named CoSIDA Division II Academic All-America® of the Year

AUSTIN, Texas – Senior women’s golfer Marie Coors of Saint Leo University has been named as the 2016-17 Division II Academic All-America® of the Year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 Division II Academic All-America® teams program. This is the sixth year that CoSIDA has named Division II Academic All-America® teams.
 
Coors is the sixth student-athlete to earn the Division II Academic All-America® of the Year and the first women’s golfer to earn the award. Ferris State University quarterback Jason Vander Laan won the award last season, while Clarion University diver Kristin Day captured the award in 2014-15. Women’s basketball player Lauren Battista (Bentley University) collected the honor in 2013-14. Women’s basketball player Kari Daugherty (Ashland University) earned the award in 2012-13 while Bryan Lippincott of the Concordia University, St. Paul baseball team was selected in 2011-12.
 
“I am very honored to receive the CoSIDA Division II Academic All-America® of the Year award,” said Coors. “The last four years have been an incredible journey academically and athletically, and I would not want to trade away a moment of the experience.
 
“I would like to thank Saint Leo University, and particularly my professors from the economics and accounting department, as well as my coach for their great support,” added Coors. “Every achievement needs a functioning team, and therefore this award is not only about my accomplishments but also about everybody that helped me along the way. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to achieve my goals and dreams!”

An economics (accounting) major with a 4.00 G.P.A., Coors was named to the Academic All-America® Women’s At-Large team member for the third time. She was named to the second team as a sophomore before back-to-back appearances on the first team the past two seasons.
 
“We are all so proud of Marie and all she was able to accomplish as a student-athlete while at Saint Leo,” said Saint Leo Director of Athletics Francis X. Reidy. “To win an individual national championship, and be recognized as the top Academic All-America® of the Year is truly amazing. It speaks volumes about Marie Coors and her incredible talent and drive for excellence. I am so proud of our student-athletes and staff who continue to find high levels of success in and out of the classroom.”
 
On the links, the Gross-Zimmern, Germany product was the 2017 NCAA Division II individual national champion in her final appearance. The two-time Sunshine State Conference Women’s Golfer of the Year (2016 & 2017), Coors concluded her senior season with a 72.16 stroke average over 32 rounds, the lowest stroke average of any NCAA Division II women’s golfer and 21st-best among all NCAA golfers. She won three tournaments during the 2016-17 campaign with 10 top-five finishes and 12 top-10 performances in 12 events. At the national championship event, Coors won the NCAA Elite 90 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest G.P.A.
 
The 2017 WGCA Division II Golfer of the Year became the first Sunshine State Conference student-athlete in the league’s history to receive all three of the SSC’s major awards for women – Woman of the Year, Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year – in 2017. Coors is the Division II Honda Athlete of the Year nominee in golf and is Saint Leo’s NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
 
Coors, who had the highest G.P.A. of any graduating Saint Leo senior in 2017, has been named the SSC’s Golfer of the Year in 2016 and 2017 and won the Sunshine State individual champion in both 2014 and 2016. She has been named to the WGCA All-America Scholars team all four years.
 
Carroll College’s Leah Esposito was named the CoSIDA College Division Academic All-America® of the Year Monday (July 17) while Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Maryann Gong was selected as the Division III honoree Tuesday (July 18). The CoSIDA Division I Academic All-America® of the Year award winner will be announced Thursday (July 20).
 

2016-17 Sport-by-Sport NCAA Division II 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