Forty-five women received Academic All-America At-Large acclaim across Division I, II, III and the college division ranks.
On the women’s side, 10 Division I, 14 Division II, 18 Division III and three college division were awarded Academic All-America acclaim.
The group included three Academic All-American of the Year at-large honorees, with the top selection in Division I, Division III and the college division.
Stanford’s Katie Ledecky earned the honor in Division I in her last season as a collegian, as she is turning pro after this season.
Ledecky is one of the most decorated swimmers in history, having earned five Olympic gold medals and 14 World Championship gold medals, as well as 14 USA Swimming national championships. She is the current world record holder in the 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events, broke 11 American records, 15 NCAA records and six NCAA meet records during her collegiate career, and won eight NCAA titles, including 2018 crowns in the 500 free, 800 free relay and 1,650 free (setting an NCAA meet record in the latter event). A nine-time CSCAA All-American and 2017 recipient of the Honda-Broderick Cup and Honda Sport Award, Ledecky announced in March she will forego her final two years of NCAA athletic eligibility (while continuing her academic studies at Stanford) to pursue professional opportunities and train for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials after helping Stanford earn its second consecutive NCAA championship.
Kenyon College’s Julia Wilson was Academic All-American of the Year in Division III, while College of the Cumberlands’ Christina Klouda was the top honoree in the women’s college division.
A breaststroke specialist, Wilson was a four-time NCAA Championship qualifier and won her first national title this past season as a part of the Ladies’ 400-meter medley relay team. She earned All-America honors in all five events she swam in at this year’s championship meet, which brought her career total to 16 for her career.
A 2018 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient and a two-time Academic All-America® first-team honoree, Wilson holds both the Kenyon and North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) records for the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events. She was a 2016 Olympic Trials qualifier.
A swimmer for the Patriots, Klouda helped the team to its fourth-straight Mid-South Conference championship and a third-place finish at the NAIA National Championship. She finished the season as a seven-time NAIA All-American, the MSC Swimmer of the Year, and a seven-time MSC all-conference selection. Klouda finished as the national runner-up in both the 400 individual medley as well as the 200 backstroke and was part of setting four new school records. Klouda was also named the NAIA Swimmer of the Month twice.
Repeat All-Americans included a pair of Division II honorees. West Florida’s Madeline Pitt was a first teamer in 2018 after receiving second team honors in 2017. Queens of Charlotte’s McKenzie Stevens bumped up from third team accolades to first team this year.
Among the Division III honorees, six are repeat honorees. Rensselaer Polytechnic’s Shanny Lin garnered first team honors in 2018 after notching firs team honors in 2017 and third team accolades in 2016. Wilson earned her second straight first team honor as did Messiah’s Kaitlin Wingert. Carnegie Mellon’s Kim Hochstedler was tabbed for first team honors after being a third-team selection last year. Wash U’s Nicole Zanolli was a second team honoree for the second straight year. Second team honoree Sarah Bradley of Calvin moved up from the third team in 2017.
Seventy-one women’s swimmers received Academic All-District honors across the divisions.
At-large teams include all sports outside of the eight sports with their own Academic All-America programs (men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.) The awards recognize the top student-athletes nationally for their combined performances on the field of play and in the classroom.
The All-District teams are divided into eight geographic regions across the United States and Canada and in four divisions (NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and the College Division).
To be nominated for Academic All-District honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale). Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of team’s contests. No student athlete is eligible until after completing one full calendar year at his/her institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility. Graduate students competing a different institution than their undergraduate school are eligible their first semester at the new institution.
Student-athletes must be named to the Academic All-District teams to be eligible for Academic All-America honors.
Women’s Division I
First Team
Nele Albers, Fordham
Ella Eastin, Stanford
Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Hannah Moore, N.C. State
Sydney Zupan, Missouri State
Second Team
Alicia Finnigan, Liberty
Temarie Tomley, Alabama
Third Team
Sharli Brady, Missouri
Bryn Handley, Southern Illinois
Asia Seidt, Kentucky
Division II
First Team
Catalina Berraud-Galea, Lynn
Andrea Bryson, St. Cloud State
Christie Halverson, Cal Baptist
Madeline Pitt, West Florida
McKenzie Stevens, Queens
Second Team
Claire Beaty, Cal State East Bay
Annagrazia Bonsanti, Bridgeport
Samantha Favret, Gannon
Neta Saar, Florida Tech
Third Team
Daria Belova, Fresno Pacific
Sammy Dammann, Biola
Makayla Myers, Wayne State
Mary Northcutt, Carson-Newman
Katya Rudenko, Drury
Division III
First Team
Jennifer Chen, MIT
Anne Shirley Dassow, Grove City
Kim Hochstedler, Carnegie Mellon
Shanny Lin, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Julia Wilson, Kenyon
Kaitlin Wingert, Messiah
Second Team
Sarah Bradley, Calvin
Kayla Burgess, New England
Samantha Glish, Wilmington
Nickie Griesemer, Ithaca
KT Kustritz, Denison
Abby Wilson, Kenyon
Anna Wisniewski, Johns Hopkins
Nicole Zanolli, Washington U
Third Team
Courtney Cowan, Johns Hopkins
Natalie LaCourt, SUNY Geneseo
Hannah Orbach-Mandel, Kenyon
Maddie Weinberger, Frostburg State
College Division
First Team
Christina Klouda, Cumberlands
Second Team
Deirdre Gerke, Olivet Nazarene
Maddy Kelly, College of Idaho
