PSAC's All-Time Academic All-Americans®
Lock Haven, Pa. - PSAC student-athletes enjoyed a record academic performance this year, as PSAC schools combined for a new conference record of 21 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans® during the 2009-10 academic year. Exactly half, eight, of the PSAC's member schools had at least one Academic All-American this year and the 21 Academic All-Americans easily shattered the old record of 17 in a single academic year, set just last year.
Of the 12 Academic All-America teams selected over the course of the academic year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the PSAC had representatives on nine of them, the same as last year, including men's soccer, women's soccer, football, women's volleyball, softball, men's at-large, women's at-large, men's track & field/cross country and women's track & field/cross country. The only three teams in which the PSAC did not have a representative were baseball, men's basketball and women's basketball.
Of the nine teams that had a PSAC representative, seven had multiple honorees, led by four Academic All-Americans on the softball and women's track & field/cross country teams. Seven of this year's Academic All-Americans are repeat winners from last year: Taylor Hilinski (Mercyhurst), Bryan Boyce (Mercyhurst), Sonia Petrosoniak (California), Jarrod King (Edinboro), Paul Wagner (East Stroudsburg), Mary Dell (Shippensburg) and Jennifer Harpp (Slippery Rock). Additionally, Jennifer Hansen of Slippery Rock was an Academic All-American two years ago before missing last year with an injury.
The PSAC's 10 total first team Academic All-America selections is also a new record. This included two first team picks on the women's soccer, football and women's track & field/cross country teams. Additionally, 13 of the PSAC's 21 Academic All-Americans were also honored as PSAC Top 10 award winners during either the fall, winter or spring seasons and of that group, eight are currently in the running for the PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, which will be announced next week and are given annually to one male and one female student-athlete in the PSAC.
In most Academic All-America programs, a first team, second team and third team are selected in both the University (Division I) and College (Division II, III, NAIA and 2-year) Divisions. In the football programs only, a first team and a second team are selected in both the University (FBS and FCS) and College (Division II, III, NAIA and 2-year) Divisions. Student-athletes eligible for selection onto the at-large teams are those that participate in the sports of: women's bowling, women's crew, men's and women's fencing, women's field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's rifle, men's and women's skiing, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo and men's wrestling. In order to be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be named to an Academic All-District first team. All-District teams are voted on by the CoSIDA membership in each district, while the Academic All-America teams are voted on by the CoSIDA Academic All-America committee and its Board of Directors.
More information on the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® program can be found at the CoSIDA website here www.cosida.com.
PSAC CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans® – 2009-10
Women's Soccer
First Team - Taylor Hilinski, Mercyhurst
First Team - Jessica Bennett, West Chester
Men's Soccer
Third Team - Jeremy Deighton, Slippery Rock
Third Team - Toric Robinson, East Stroudsburg
Women's Volleyball
Second Team - Renata da Silva, California
Football
First Team - Matt Freed, East Stroudsburg
First Team - Bryan Boyce, Mercyhurst
Softball
First Team - Lauren Shaheen, California
Third Team - Sonia Petrosoniak, California
Third Team - Shardea Croes, Slippery Rock
Third Team - Julie Mackenzie, California
Men's At-Large
Second Team (University Division) - Jarrod King, Edinboro (Wrestling)
Third Team (College Division) - Kyle King, Mercyhurst (Tennis)
Women's At-Large
First Team (University Division) - Vicki Bendus, Mercyhurst (Ice Hockey)*
First Team (College Division) - Kristen Montello, West Chester (Swimming)
Third Team (College Division) - Rohini Das, Kutztown (Tennis)
Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
First Team - Paul Wagner, East Stroudsburg
Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
First Team - Mary Dell, Shippensburg
First Team - Jennifer Hansen, Slippery Rock
Third Team - Jennifer Harpp, Slippery Rock
Third Team - Neely Spence, Shippensburg
* Non-PSAC Sport