CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --
Ten softball student-athletes, seven of which were all-conference honorees, have been selected to the America East Softball All-Academic team as was announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon. These student-athletes, who excel both academically as well as athletically, represent the best of the America East Conference.
The All-Academic squad consists of University at Albany’s Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas) and Nicole Kothe (Middletown, N.Y.), Boston University’s Christy Leath (St. Charles, Mo.) and Nora Militz (Arlington Heights, Ill.), University of Hartford’s Sara Messinger (New Egypt, N.J.) and Amanda Sais (Tustin, Calif.), University of Maine’s Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo.) and Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass.), and Stony Brook University’s Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.).
Butsch was named America East Co-Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference honoree. Fleury, Militz, Struzenberg and Waters were also first-team selections while Balent and Sais were second-team choices.
Sais and Struzenberg, who shared the honor of achieving the highest grade-point average on the squad (3.88), were also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Softball First Team, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Butsch, Fleury and Kothe took home second-team accolades.
The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings, where faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor the league’s top student-athletes, whom excel equally in the classroom as they do on the playing field.
For the last two academic years, the All-Academic Team has been selected based on a formula. Starting this year, America East has adopted a more subjective approach based on feedback from various coaches’ groups and administrators and approval by the athletic directors. The process will now resemble the CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program. Student-athletes worthy of consideration will now be nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by committee of SIDs, academic advisors and faculty representatives from all nine member institutions.
All-Academic squads for team sports are based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (i.e. 10 including designated player for softball) or are made up of 10 student-athletes for individual sports. There may be more student-athletes recognized if a tie exists or fewer if eligibility requirements limit the number of nominees. To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team’s games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. Freshmen are not eligible for consideration.