Sowell Named to DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team

Seattle University women’s basketball’s Kacie Sowell (Ventura, Calif.) has been named to the 12th Annual Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team. This is Sowell’s second straight such honor. Men’s and women’s teams, comprised of ten student-athletes apiece, were named, as well as a scholar-athlete of the year and postgraduate scholarship winners in each category.

Nominees were required to have a minimum 3.20 GPA (on a 4.00 scale) in the classroom and to have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games. To be eligible, nominees also must have reached junior academic standing at their respective institution. Basketball student-athletes from all Division I-AAA ADA member institutions, which include the 99 NCAA Division I institutions that do not sponsor football, were eligible for the prestigious awards.

Sowell was recently named to the WBCA All-Region 7 Team and was named to the WBCA’s Allstate Good Works Team earlier this season. Sowell was also one of just 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award and is a two-time First Team All-Conference and WAC All-Tournament team honoree. Just the fourth player in program history to pass 1000 career rebounds and 12th to pass 1000 career points, Sowell finishes her SU career with the top three spots in several categories on Seattle U’s Division I single season records including scoring and rebounding.

Kansas City’s Eilise O’Connor joins Sowell in representing the Western Athletic Conference on the 10-person team, as O’Connor also received the Postgraduate Scholarship.

A special Review Committee of Division I-AAA athletics directors were responsible for selecting the winners, including Committee Chair Tim Hall, St Joseph’s Don DiJulia, Fairfield’s Gene Doris, Loyola Marymount’s Bill Husak, DePaul’s Jean Lenti Ponsetto, and Seattle U’s Bill Hogan. The Division I-AAA ADA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), in its 49th year.

Women’s Scholar-Athlete Team

Name	Institution	GPA	Major
Alexis Dobbs	American University	3.81	Public Health/Minor Biology
Jen Dumiak	American University	3.94	Mathematics & Economics
Sarah Hansen	Florida Gulf Coast	3.88	Chemistry/Minor Mathematics
Amanda Hyde	IPFW	3.97	Mathematics/Minor Psychology
Katie Fox	St. Francis College	4.00	English & History
Dequesha McClanahan	Winthrop University	3.34	Exercise Science
Eilise O'Connor	Kansas City	3.99	Chemistry
Haley Seilbert	IPFW	3.98	Communication Science & Disorders
Erin Shields	Saint Joseph's	3.82	Finance & Accounting
Kacie Sowell	Seattle U	3.53	Sports & Exercise Science

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Amanda Hyde, IPFW

Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient: Eilise O’Connor, Kansas City