Missy Franklin Named CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

Senior wrestler Matt Brown of Penn State University and sophomore swimmer Missy Franklin of the University of California Berkeley — headline the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s and Women’s At-Large Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Brown and Franklin have been selected as the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® Team Members of the Year for the Division I Men’s and Women’s At-Large programs, respectively. The at-large teams for the Capital One Academic All-America® program include the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis and water polo for both men and women, as well as bowling, crew and field hockey for women, and volleyball and wrestling for men.

A criminology and international politics major with a 3.97 G.P.A., Brown is a two-time first-team Capital One Academic All-America® selection, returning to the top squad after previously earning the honor in 2013. A native of West Valley City, Utah, Brown also is a recipient of both the NCAA and Big Ten Conference Post-Graduate Scholarships and won the NCAA title at 174 pounds while helping Penn State to a sixth-place finish at this year’s NCAA Championships.

A three-time All-America selection, Brown posted a 29-3 record this season and departs Penn State with a 118-16 career record, capped by his first NCAA individual title in 2015. He also ranks 12th in Nittany Lion history for career wins, and 11th all-time in pins (30). In addition, Brown took home the 2013 NCAA Elite 89 Award and has garnered multiple National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) First Team All-Academic citations, as well as three first-team Academic All-Big Ten Team accolades.

A four-time gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, Franklin is appearing on the Capital One Academic All-America® At-Large Team for the first time, maintaining a 3.58 G.P.A. as a psychology major. The Centennial, Colorado, resident was the 2015 NCAA and Pac-12 Conference Swimmer of the Year, and the recipient of the 2015 Honda Sports Award for women’s swimming and diving. Franklin earned three individual national titles at the 2015 NCAA Championships, claiming top honors in the 200 freestyle (in an American-record time of 1:39.10), the 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley, all while leading California to its fourth NCAA championship, and first since 2012.

Franklin also is the most decorated woman in the history of the FINA World Championships, collecting nine career gold medals to date. She recently earned a spot on the United States squad for the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, this August where she is expected to compete in the 100- and 200-meter freestyle, as well as the 100- and 200-meter backstroke.

More than half (28) of the 45 members of the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men’s At-Large Team earned at least a 3.90 G.P.A., with 14 student-athletes compiling a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. or better. The 15 members of the first-team had an average G.P.A. of 3.85.

Along with being this year’s Capital One Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Team Member of the Year, Brown is among 12 male student-athletes who are repeat Academic All-America® choices. West Virginia graduate student rifleman Thomas Kyanko, who is a rare three-time Academic All-America® selection, earning second-team for the second straight year after being named third team in 2013. The other men who repeated as Academic All-America® student-athletes in 2015 are led by six other first-team selections — Purdue University senior diver Jamie Bissett, University of Texas junior swimmer Cory Bowersox, Virginia Tech graduate student wrestler Devin Carter, University of Georgia senior swimmer Nicolas Fink, Syracuse University senior lacrosse player Kevin Rice and Drake University senior tennis player Alen Salibasic.

The other returnees to the Capital One Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Team include a pair of second-team picks in University of North Dakota senior ice hockey player Nick Mattson and U.S. Naval Academy senior gymnastics athlete Joshua Steves, and two third-team honorees in Fairleigh Dickinson University senior tennis playerArvis Berzins and Harvard University senior swimmer Mike Mosca.

Carter, Rice and Salibasic all moved up to Academic All-America® first team this year after collecting second-team honors in 2014. Bissett, Bowersox and Fink also garnered first-team accolades this year after earning spots on the Academic All-America® third team a season ago. Mattson rose up to collect second-team Academic All-America® recognition after appearing on the third team last year, while Steves made the second team for the second consecutive season. Berzins and Mosca rounded out this year’s two-time Academic All-America® honorees as both men duplicated their third-team citations from 2014.

On the women’s side, no fewer than 75 percent (34) of the 45 members of the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Women’s At-Large Team posted at least a 3.90 G.P.A., including a sensational 17 student-athletes with spotless 4.0 G.P.A. The 15 members of the first-team registered an average G.P.A. of 3.88, with nearly half (seven) logging a 4.0 G.P.A.

There are three student-athletes on this year’s Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Women’s At-Large Team that are rare three-time Academic All-America® choices — University of Notre Dame senior golfer Ashley Armstrong, Rochester Institute of Technology senior ice hockey player Alexandra Binnington and University of Georgia senior tennis player Lauren Herring. All three women were third-team selections in 2013, with Binnington earning first-team honors the past two years, Herring joining her on this season’s first team after copping second-team accolades in 2014, and Armstrong garnering second-team plaudits for the second consecutive year.

In addition, 10 other female student-athletes are two-time selections to the Capital One Academic All-America® Women’s At-Large Team. This year’s repeat choices include six first-team picks — North Dakota junior ice hockey player Shelby Amsley-Benzie, University of Alabama junior gymnastics athlete Lauren Beers, Duke University senior field hockey player Lauren Blazing, Navy junior swimmer Ellen Bradford, University of Wisconsin senior golfer Kimberly Dinh and University of Southern California senior diver Haley Ishimatsu.

The other returnees to the Capital One Academic All-America® Women’s At-Large Team feature three second-team choices in California junior swimmer Rachael Acker, Notre Dame senior swimmer Emma Reaney and University of North Carolina senior field hockey player Loren Shealy, along with third-team swimmer Kristen Barta, a senior at the U.S. Military Academy.

Blazing matched Binnington as a Capital One Academic All-America® At-Large first team selection for the second consecutive season, while Beers, Dinh and Ishimatsu followed Herring’s lead in moving up to the first team in 2015 after making the second team last year. Amsley-Benzie and Bradford made the biggest leap, rising from the Academic All-America® third team in 2014 to appearing on this season’s first team.

Reaney was part of last year’s Capital One Academic All-America® At-Large first team before collecting second-team recognition this season. Shealy joined Armstrong in repeating second-team honors for the second year in a row, while Acker moved up to the second team after picking up third-team accolades in 2014. Barta completed this year’s two-time Academic All-America® roster with her second third-team citation in as many seasons.

Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s At-Large Team

Along with Brown, Bissett, Bowersox, Carter, Fink and Salibasic, the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s At-Large first team includes three student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. or better, led by two-time honoree Salibasic, plus University of Michigan senior swimmer Justin Glanda (who compiled a 4.04 G.P.A.) and West Virginia University senior swimmer David Palley.

The rest of the Academic All-America® first-team includes University of Denver senior lacrosse player Erik Adamson, University of Alaska Fairbanks senior rifleman Ryan Anderson, University of Arizona senior swimmer Kevin Cordes, Michigan senior ice hockey player Zach Hyman and Stanford University senior swimmer Brian Knott.

The Capital One Academic All-America® second team is led by two-time selections Mattson and Steves, plus six student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. — University of Mississippi junior golfer Forrest Gamble, Middle Tennessee State University senior golfer Brett Patterson, Murray State senior golfer Jordan Smith, Georgia junior swimmer Tynan Stewart, Gardner-Webb University senior golfer Matt Yelverton and Michigan State University senior swimmer David Zoltowski.

Rounding out the Academic All-America® second team are Southern California senior diver Jordan Gear, University of Nebraska junior gymnast Ethan Lottman, California sophomore swimmer Ryan Murphy, University of Colorado graduate student skier Rune Oedegaard, Old Dominion University senior wrestler Tristan Warner and University of Pittsburgh senior wrestler Tyler Wilps.

Berzins and Mosca lead the Capital One Academic All-America® third team, along with five more student-athletes with 4.0 G.P.A. — Mississippi State University sophomore tennis player Rishab Agarwal, Troy University senior golfer Phillip Brennan, North Carolina Central University senior tennis player Tamina Kienka, and a pair of Alabama sophomore swimmers in Anton McKee and Connor Oslin.

The rest of the Academic All-America® third team consists of Georgia Tech senior golfer Anders Albertson, Miami University (Ohio) junior swimmer Evan Bader, Clemson University senior golfer Stephen Behr, Jr., Drexel University senior swimmer Alex Chialastri, Michigan senior swimmer Richard Funk, Denver senior ice hockey player Larkin Jacobson, Notre Dame senior ice hockey player Peter Schneider and University of Illinois senior gymnast Mike Wilner.

Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large Team

As noted, eight of the 15 student-athletes on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large first team are returnees, with five of those repeat selections among seven first-team picks who also recorded 4.0 G.P.A. — Amsley-Benzie, Beers, Binnington, Bradford and Dinh, plus Notre Dame senior rower Anna Kottkamp and Auburn University senior gymnast Megan Walker.

Along with Franklin and the aforementioned repeat honorees and/or 4.0 designees, the other four Academic All-America® first-team members this year are University of Utah senior gymnast Georgia Dabritz, Penn State senior field hockey player Laura Gebhart, Notre Dame junior fencer Lee Kiefer and UCLA senior gymnast Samantha Peszek.

The Capital One Academic All-America® second team features four two-time selections in Acker, Armstrong, Reaney and Shealy, plus five other student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. — Eastern Kentucky University senior tennis player Amandine Faouzi, North Carolina State University senior tennis player Elisha Handle, University of Minnesota senior swimmer Jessica Plant, Northern Illinois University senior tennis player Nelle Youel and Alabama graduate student tennis player Emily Zabor.

Completing the Academic All-America® second team are University of Florida senior lacrosse player Nora Barry, Minnesota junior ice hockey player Hannah Brandt, University of Kentucky senior swimmer Abby Myers, West Virginia graduate student riflewoman Maren Prediger, Utah senior skier Kristiina Rove and University of Louisville junior swimmer Kelsi Worrell.

Barta headlines the Capital One Academic All-America® third team, which includes five additional student-athletes with 4.0 G.P.A. — Michigan graduate student field hockey player Sammy Gray, Creighton University senior tennis player Jennie Hartjes, Mississippi State senior tennis player Naomi Tran, Georgia junior swimmer Chantal Van Landeghem and West Virginia senior swimmer Jenelle Zee.

The remainder of the Academic All-America® third team is made up of Fordham University senior rower Nicole Arato, Texas senior rower Jessica Glennie, Brown University senior rower Rachel Gottlieb, Texas senior swimmer Emma Ivory-Ganja, University of Tennessee junior swimmer Faith Johnson, Georgia senior swimmer Maddie Locus, Minnesota junior gymnast Lindsay Mable, College of William & Mary senior lacrosse player Ellen Shaffrey and University of Virginia senior lacrosse player Courtney Swan.

College Division Teams: release/teams
NCAA Division III Teams: release/teams
NCAA Division II Teams: release/teams
NCAA Division I Teams: release/teams

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

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Nicole Loiseau Vanderpoel

8 years ago

Congratulations Missy!!!⭐️?

Diane Kricke

8 years ago

Of course!!