BOSTON – Thirteen of America East’s top women's swimming & diving student-athletes were named to the 2015-16 All-Academic team on Friday. The squad consists of student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically.
All-American Emily Escobedo from UMBC highlights the squad. She placed third in the 200-yard butterfly in the NCAA Championships last week. Escobedo's teammate, Coco Darelius, the Most Outstanding Diver at the America East Championship, was also honored.
Escobedo and Darelius are also repeat honorees along with New Hampshire's Bettina Casperson and Vermont's Elena Melloni. Newcomers to the squad include Binghamton's Selina Ng, Maine's Emily Borger, Victoria Kingston, Cecelia McEachern and Mariya Pominova and Vermont's Stephanie Geiger, Abby Holmquist, Sarah Mantz and Maggie Preston.
To be eligible for All-Academic, student-athletes must have sophomore athletic eligibility, attain a 3.30 minimum grade-point average and a contributor on their team. The squad is voted on by a committee made up of America East student-athlete support and athletic communications administrators as well as faculty athletic representatives.
America East is proud to have one of most comprehensive academic awards programs in the country. In addition All-Academic program, Elite 18 Awards are bestowed in each of the conference’s sponsored sports. Additionally, a Scholar-Athlete, someone who distinguishes himself/herself as the top student-athlete in his/her sport, is awarded. From that group, one male and one female is selected the America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The conference also recognizes all student-athletes who achieve at least a 3.0 GPA on its Academic Honor Roll, with those achieving a 3.50 average or better receiving Commissioner’s Honor Roll status. The Presidential Scholar-Athlete award recognizes graduating student-athletes who compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher as an undergraduate student. Finally, the Academic Cup is presented to the institution whose student-athletes post the highest grade-point average during that academic year.