For the third consecutive year, a women’s soccer student-athlete has earned Academic All-America honors, as junior defender Kate Edstrom () was voted ESPN The Magazine Third Team Academic All-America, College Division, announced Tuesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Edstrom has started every game in the back for since the start of her collegiate career, helping the team to a 44-11-6 record, a .770 winning percentage. This past season in 20 matches, she helped post a 10-5-3 record against Division I opposition, earning an assist on the game-winning goal in the Redhawks’ 2-0 victory over on Oct. 5.
In 2006, she earned honorable mention All-GNAC recognition in helping the squad win the conference title and advance to the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Tournament. With a one-goal, four-assist season in 2007, Edstrom earned Second Team NSCAA All-Region honors as hosted first- and second-round matches in the Far West Region of the national tournament.
As a nursing major, Edstrom has posted a 3.967 grade point average. She is a two-time ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District VIII selection as well as an Academic All-GNAC honoree in 2007. She boasts the highest GPA on her team despite tackling one of the toughest majors a student-athlete can take at the school.
Edstrom becomes the tenth student-athlete to earn Academic All-America honors. She is the fifth women’s soccer player to be selected, joining Jane Yegge (1985 ? 3rd team), Tafara Pulse (2003 ? 2nd team), Ana Gutierrez (2006 ? 1st team), and Ashley Porter (2006 & 2007 ? 2nd team). Next season, Edstrom will have a chance to join Porter and swimmer Chris Coley as two-time Academic All-Americans, but she and the rest of the student-athletes will be eligible in the University Division beginning next year as the school continues the transition to Division I.
To be eligible for the Academic All-District and All-America awards, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 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- honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.