U.S. National Team Swimmer Katie McLaughlin Leads NISCA Academic All-America Squad

The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches’ Association (NISCA) has released their 2014-2015 high school Academic All-America and Scholar Team rankings, and it was Michigan who pulled through with the biggest load.

Michiganders earned an astonishing 29 team awards out of 248 handed out, and individually had 196 out of 1723 awards. That means that the Wolverine State represents more than 11% of the best aquatic student-athletes in the country, more than triple the approximate 3% of the United States’ population that the state represents.

To earn this honor individually, athletes must hold at least a 3.750 GPA on a 4-point scale, or 93.75% on the grade scale used by their school. There is no requirement for athletic success in this scenario, but there are some names on this list who excel both academically and athletically. That includes now-graduated class of 2015 swimmers Brad Zdroik, a 3rd-place finisher at the YMCA National Championships and a Stanford commit; and Mark Andrew, who is a YMCA National Championship Meet Record holder and a Penn commit.

The women’s All-America Team is even more impressive, with three members of our high school class of 2015 top 20 recruits also earning high scholastic honors. #4 recruit and Cal commit Katie McLaughlin made the list, #9 recruit and Indiana commit Lillia King made the list, as did #12 Sonia Wang, who is heading to Harvard. Lexy Aitchison, who just missed our top 20 ranking, was a member of the 2014 Canadian Junior Pan Pacs Team and is signed to attend Duke in the fall.

McLaughlin is a member of the USA Swimming National Team.

Team Scholar summaries after the jump

 

2014-2015 NISCA/Speedo Academic All America Rank By State
Awarded to 12th Grade Athletes with a GPA of 3.75 + 
Rank State Abr Boys Girls Total Abr State Rank
Boys Girls Total
State Abr 0 0 0 Abr State
1 MICHIGAN MI 69 127 196 MI MICHIGAN 1
2 TEXAS TX 73 97 170 TX TEXAS 2
3 OHIO OH 54 65 119 OH OHIO 3
4 INDIANA IN 47 68 115 IN INDIANA 4
5 GEORGIA GA 44 59 103 GA GEORGIA 5
6 PENNSYLVANIA PA 42 55 97 PA PENNSYLVANIA 6
7 MINNESOTA MN 40 47 87 MN MINNESOTA 7
8 CALIFORNIA CA 30 50 80 CA CALIFORNIA 8
9 WISCONSIN WI 31 46 77 WI WISCONSIN 9
10 ILLINOIS IL 26 36 62 IL ILLINOIS 10
11 NEW YORK NY 26 26 52 NY NEW YORK 11
12 FLORIDA FL 11 38 49 FL FLORIDA 12
13 TENNESSEE TN 19 23 42 TN TENNESSEE 13
14 VIRGINIA VA 21 20 41 VA VIRGINIA 14
15 CONNECTICUT CT 18 16 34 CT CONNECTICUT 15
16 COLORADO CO 6 26 32 CO COLORADO 16
16 NEW JERSEY NJ 11 21 32 NJ NEW JERSEY 16
18 MASSACHUSETTS MA 9 20 29 MA MASSACHUSETTS 18
18 IOWA IA 12 17 29 IA IOWA 18
20 NEW MEXICO NM 18 9 27 NM NEW MEXICO 20
21 KENTUCKY KY 12 13 25 KY KENTUCKY 21
22 NEBRASKA NE 13 11 24 NE NEBRASKA 22
23 NORTH CAROLINA NC 9 14 23 NC NORTH CAROLINA 23
24 KANSAS KS 12 9 21 KS KANSAS 24
24 WASHINGTON WA 7 14 21 WA WASHINGTON 24
24 MAINE ME 8 13 21 ME MAINE 24
27 NORTH DAKOTA ND 10 8 18 ND NORTH DAKOTA 27
27 UTAH UT 3 15 18 UT UTAH 27
29 MISSOURI MO 9 5 14 MO MISSOURI 29
30 OREGON OR 5 8 13 OR OREGON 30
31 DELAWARE DE 11 0 11 DE DELAWARE 31
32 HAWAII HI 2 5 7 HI HAWAII 32
32 WEST VIRGINIA WV 3 4 7 WV WEST VIRGINIA 32
34 MARYLAND MD 5 1 6 MD MARYLAND 34
34 OKLAHOMA OK 3 3 6 OK OKLAHOMA 34
36 ARIZONA AZ 1 4 5 AZ ARIZONA 36
37 NEW HAMPSHIRE NH 2 1 3 NH NEW HAMPSHIRE 37
37 WYOMING WY 0 3 3 WY WYOMING 37
37 LOUISIANA LA 1 2 3 LA LOUISIANA 37
37 ALASKA AK 1 2 3 AK ALASKA 37
37 ARKANSAS AR 1 2 3 AR ARKANSAS 37
37 IDAHO ID 1 2 3 ID IDAHO 37
43 ALABAMA AL 1 1 2 AL ALABAMA 43
44 MISSISSIPPI MS 0 1 1 MS MISSISSIPPI 44
MONTANA MT 0 0 0 MT MONTANA
NEVADA NV 0 0 0 NV NEVADA
RHODE ISLAND RI 0 0 0 RI RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA SC 0 0 0 SC SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA SD 0 0 0 SD SOUTH DAKOTA
VERMONT VT 0 0 0 VT VERMONT
WASHINGTON DC 0 0 0 DC WASHINGTON
716 1007 1723
For the boys, Pace Academy in Atlanta won the gold award and boasted the highest GPA of 3.861.
For the girls, Terry Sanford High School in Fayetville, North Carolina had the highest GPA with an astonishing 3.962.

 

2014-2015 NISCA Scholar Team Award Ranked by State
Rank State Abr Boys Girls Total Abr State Rank
1 MICHIGAN MI 12 17 29 MI MICHIGAN 1
2 PENNSYLVANIA PA 9 11 20 PA PENNSYLVANIA 2
2 OHIO OH 9 11 20 OH OHIO 2
2 WISCONSIN WI 9 11 20 WI WISCONSIN 2
5 TEXAS TX 7 9 16 TX TEXAS 5
6 INDIANA IN 5 10 15 IN INDIANA 6
7 FLORIDA FL 6 7 13 FL FLORIDA 7
8 GEORGIA GA 6 6 12 GA GEORGIA 8
8 ILLINOIS IL 6 6 12 IL ILLINOIS 8
9 VIRGINIA VA 3 5 10 VA VIRGINIA 9
10 NEW JERSEY NJ 5 7 8 NJ NEW JERSEY 10
10 NEW YORK NY 4 4 8 NY NEW YORK 10
12 NORTH CAROLINA NC 3 3 6 NC NORTH CAROLINA 12
12 NORTH DAKOTA ND 2 4 6 ND NORTH DAKOTA 12
12 TENNESSEE TN 3 3 6 TN TENNESSEE 12
15 CALIFORNIA CA 2 3 5 CA CALIFORNIA 15
15 IOWA IA 3 2 5 IA IOWA 15
15 MINNESOTA MN 3 2 5 MN MINNESOTA 15
18 KENTUCKY KY 2 2 4 KY KENTUCKY 18
19 KANSAS KS 0 3 3 KS KANSAS 19
19 MASSACHUSETTS MA 1 2 3 MA MASSACHUSETTS 19
19 NEBRASKA NE 2 1 3 NE NEBRASKA 19
19 HAWAII HI 2 1 3 HI HAWAII 19
19 UTAH UT 1 2 3 UT UTAH 19
24 ALABAMA AL 1 1 2 AL ALABAMA 24
24 NEW MEXICO NM 1 1 2 NM NEW MEXICO 24
24 CONNECTICUT CT 1 1 2 CT CONNECTICUT 24
27 COLORADO CO 0 1 1 CO COLORADO 27
27 MAINE ME 0 1 1 ME MAINE 27
29 MARYLAND MD 0 1 1 MD MARYLAND 29
29 ARIZONA AZ 0 1 1 AZ ARIZONA 29
29 DELAWARE DE 1 0 1 DE DELAWARE 29
29 MISSOURI MO 1 0 1 MO MISSOURI 29
ALASKA AK 0 0 0 AK ALASKA
ARKANSAS AR 0 0 0 AR ARKANSAS
IDAHO ID 0 0 0 ID IDAHO
LOUISIANA LA 0 0 0 LA LOUISIANA
MISSISSIPPI MS 0 0 0 MS MISSISSIPPI
MONTANA MT 0 0 0 MT MONTANA
NEVADA NV 0 0 0 NV NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE NH 0 0 0 NH NEW HAMPSHIRE
OKLAHOMA OK 0 0 0 OK OKLAHOMA
OREGON OR 0 0 0 OR OREGON
RHODE ISLAND RI 0 0 0 RI RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA SC 0 0 0 SC SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA SD 0 0 0 SD SOUTH DAKOTA
VERMONT VT 0 0 0 VT VERMONT
WASHINGTON DC 0 0 0 DC WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON WA 0 0 0 WA WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA WV 0 0 0 WV WEST VIRGINIA
WYOMING WY 0 0 0 WY WYOMING
Rank State Abr 109 139 248 Abr State Rank

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Inaccurate List
8 years ago

Please let me know why doesn’t this list include my daughter who has a 4.4 GPA and her Medley Relay Clocked a 1.41 seconds….4 seconds under the automatic qualifing time.

Admin
Reply to  Inaccurate List
8 years ago

Inaccurate List – because your child or their coach didn’t apply for the award. NISCA does not have the authority (nor the budget) to pull thousands upon thousands upon thousands of transcripts from every swimmer, diver, and water polo player around the country. Applications have to be submitted.

Just sayin'
Reply to  Inaccurate List
8 years ago

Inaccurate List, there is nothing higher than a 4.0 on a 4.0 scale. According to the article, NISCA used unweighted grades.

Inaccurate List
Reply to  Just sayin'
8 years ago

Do the swimmers apply themselves for this award or the coaches…from what I understand and I could be wrong the NISCA is for coaches alone and require membership and last year my child was awarded without applying herself…so I am just confused…

Yes, the 4.4 GPA is weighted and if unweighted it would still be a 4:)

Just sayin'
Reply to  Inaccurate List
8 years ago

Inaccurate list – you may be confusing USA Swimming scholastic all-American with NISCA All-Anerican. If I understand correctly, NISCA is only for seniors, and thus, it is a one time award and has NO qualifying times, only participation. USA swimming is sophomore -senior award and has qualifying times.

Mark Onstott
Reply to  Just sayin'
8 years ago

The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) Academic All America award is an honor earned by seniors who competed on their high school swim team, lettered their senior year and have a cummulative GPA of at least 3.75. Weighted grades may be used. You can find details at http://www.niscaonline.org. But, yes, the coach does need to fill out an online application and send in the appropriate verifications. Fees apply to nonmember coaches or late (after the initial March 31 deadline) applications. Unfortunately, no applications are accepted after June 15th.
Scholar Team is an award for varsity teams and has 3 levels, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Applications must be submitted and the same fees… Read more »

Confused Mom
8 years ago

What is this list? Do coaches submit the applications or swimmers/parents. I’m bummed to see that our entire team missed it. We’ve got several seniors who graduated with over 4.0s.

Daniel
Reply to  Confused Mom
8 years ago

Anyone can send it. I send our team’s applications. The parents and student fill out the form and admin, counselor, coach signs off on it. A transcript is required with the application. The team GPA calculates the entire team GPAs. The application is free as long as the coach is a NISCA member and it is sent before the due date. I believe its either $20 or $25 per person after the due date.

Swim Mom
8 years ago

You forgot to mention Class of 2015 top 20 recruit Lillia King #9 who committed to Indiana University. Lillia is both a US National and US Junior National team member.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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